Petit Debutant

Are you still here?

2010-08-30T08:01:00.000-05:00

Well what are you still doing here? I've moved my blog over to a brand new spot! It's way better and your missing out on all the nifty new features! soo come one over -------------------> Here

C'mon over...

2010-08-09T08:24:00.000-05:00

to my new blog! You're missing lots of fun stuff if you haven't stopped by Petit Design Co. Make sure you sign up to follow because there just might be some giveaways coming soon. I'm just sayin'!

Don't Forget...

2010-07-16T08:51:00.000-05:00

To follow me on my new blog Petit Design Co. There's a few new posts on over there.

Come on over!
Norma

I'm moving!

2010-07-12T12:42:00.003-05:00

Thankfully this move does not require boxes, tape and muscle. Nope I did this move all by myself and it only took a few days. So head on over to my new home {assuming you find me interesting or at least awkwardly funny} Petit Design Co. and don't forget to become a follower while you're over there because I won't be posting here anymore! Let's see who becomes my first follower!

See you on the other side!

MTQB June

2010-07-09T16:28:00.001-05:00

These are my June blocks for the Modern Tradition Quilt Bee (MTQB.) You can find the very easy tutorial for the Starflower Block on the Modify Tradition website.

These blocks were made for Noah and Lilah who just happens to have the cutest Etsy store chock full of delightful goodies! So go take a peek!

JCQA Petals

2010-07-04T07:00:00.001-05:00

I've made some progress on the petals for the Jacob's Coat Quilt Along. Some progress but not much, which is better than none at all. I've made 36 of 637 petals needed for the quilt top. I wasn't planning on hand stitching these to the background. I was planning to do it using Harriet Hargrave's machine applique method. Except that I just realized that my favorite stitch for that method was on the sewing machine I sold to my SIL. I guess I'll have to play around with the stitches on my Kenmore to see if I can find a substitute.

By the way I highly recommend both of Harriet's books: "Heirloom Machine Quilting," and "Mastering Machine Applique." They are my go to reference books with oodles of drool worthy pictures. I must give credit where credit is due, Harriet's books taught me about 90% of what I know about quilting. I know the books seem pricey but they are sooo worth the money many times over. They are the perfect books for beginners and intermediate quilters that take you from the very basics (what is a quilt, bias, binding, etc) to more advanced stuff (marking, free motion, etc.)

MTQB April Blocks

2010-07-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

These are the April blocks I made for Greta for the Modern Tradition Quilt Bee. There are 4 of the same blocks just rotated 45 degrees to make up one humongous 24" block.

Greta chose the Arkansas Crossroads block and she wanted it done all scrappy like. She sent us the white and the yellow pez fabric. Let me tell you that when I was pulling fabric scraps I did not think there was anyway that these fabrics would ever play together. Surprisingly I really like the finished product. I didn't sew the 4 blocks together so that Greta would be able to play with the placement of the blocks with the other blocks she gets from my bee sisters. I also didn't know if she would like the block in the top left. Greta specifically said she did not want, well it was more along the lines that she really did not like, novelty prints. I have not had anyone ever say they did not like that owl fabric so if Greta hates it she can reject that block. I can't wait to see her pieced top. Check out this really scrappy one here {swoon.}

As for my may blocks... I'm still missing a few, 4 to be exact. Hopefully I'll get them soon so I can piece my top together.

What's for dinner: Shirmp Gnocchi

2010-07-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

I'm a lucky gal because Mr. PD likes to dabble in the kitchen. He loves to cook for me on special occasions such as birthday's and anniversaries. I don't recall the occasion when he first made this dish for me but it was sometime this year. It was Divine! The caramelized onions were my favorite part but it all went well together. You can find the recipe for this delicious dish here. Oh and in case you are wondering what gnocchi is they are potato dumplings and can be found at most grocery stores in the Italian section.

Cutest Swiffer on the Block

2010-07-01T20:36:00.000-05:00

A while ago (at least a month or two ago) I ran across this ingenious tutorial on Sew Much Ado which resulted in this overly cute Swiffer duster:

I've made 2 and have plans to make more because yes, they are easy to make, yes they work, and yes, they're cute. Plus I don't feel bad since I don't have to throw away one of the store bought replacements every few days since I can throw these in the wash. One word of caution, don't wash these in the same load as anything microfiber. I found out the hard way that said microfiber item will attract every bit of loose thread.

Back again

2010-07-01T20:23:00.002-05:00

I had a great time during our vacation to California and Nevada. My grand plans of posting from the airport and at night quickly went out the window as fun and fatigue took center stage. I'm glad it did because there is nothing more refreshing than being unplugged for a week and a half. I've got plenty to share but first I will publish all those posts I had saved as drafts before I left {see I had good intentions!}

I hope you are all having awesome summers!

Unclaimed Baggage Center

2010-06-14T21:43:00.003-05:00

What is that you ask? Well if you are ever near Scottsboro Alabama you must stop by and see for your self. This little hidden gem is a treasure trove of awesome deals! It has been on our "to do list" for a few years. My husband had a few jobs in Cullman Alabama with his previous employer (when we were still living in TN) and every time I got to tag along we would promise to go check it out "this time." It never happened.

This year on the way back from my triathlon in Tullahoma TN, we took a detour and went to Russel Cave National Monument. After we were done there we hopped back in the car and I looked at the map and realized we would be going through Scottsboro on the way home. Something jogged my memory and I remembered about the UBC.

What exactly is it? Well the Unclaimed Baggage Center is were lots of orphaned baggage ends up. Here it is sorted and items are put up for sale to the public. What kind of items? Everything you could imagine and more? The best part is that most of it is in like new or new condition! They do a really good job of sorting stuff and you won't really run across any "junk." The prices are definitely varied, I think they discount the stuff that has been there longer. There are lots of clothes, books, electronics, shoes, jewelry, sports equipment, etc. You would be surprised at the things people bring or buy on vacation!

Some of the stuff was overpriced in my opinion(that's the bargain hunter in me!) but most of it was moderately priced. A DSLR was going for about $300 but you don't get any guarantees as to how long it will last (most of the more expensive electronics are checked and tested, but still you are buying used.) We made a few purchases the best bargain being a two piece suit for my husband for a mere $30! Actually there were some really nice $500 Ralph Lauren 3 piece suits that still had tags on them for only $100! We also bought a very pretty smocked dress for my daughter that looks brand new for $7. A Cinderella dress up dress (all the glitter is there so I think it's new!) $6. There were one or two more items we bought all at a great bargain!

DQS 9

2010-06-14T07:49:00.004-05:00

I have, once again, joined the next round of the Flickr Doll Quilt Swap. I don't do very many swaps but the doll quilt swap is one that I really enjoy doing. This will be the 4th time I join this particular swap. I can only say good things about this very well organized swap full of very impressive quilters, lots of eye candy and a very active community. It is in such high demand that sign ups usually close within 2 days!

I know I already have a long list of projects to finish (see left side bar) but I actually added this swap to the top of list because I knew I would join it as soon as sign ups were open. The good thing is that I don't have to send out the quilt until September 1st. That's plenty of time to work on this little quilt. I think I will need all of that time to come up with a really good plan because I have received my partner and am now feeling "stage fright!"

So what is a swap? Basically someone organizes a swap, takes sign ups of people that want to join, then assigns partners. You basically make a quilt (in this case a doll quilt) for your partner, and your partner (usually a different person) makes a quilt for you. The DQS9 is a secret swap so you can't just go and ask your partner what they would like. Instead you fill out a questionnaire when you sign up and provide links to your blog and to your "likes" so that your partner can get a feel for what you like and "stalk" you in order to get an idea of what to make you.

Here are just a few of my recent favorites:

1. thrifty goodness, 2. Finished!, 3. Quilting NewBees June Blocks, 4. Modern Tradition Block for Norma, 5. Melons, 6. Still piecing ..., 7. Completed Pinwheel Quilt, 8. Starburst, 9. Baby Mezzanine Quilt, 10. Stained Glass Windows, 11. Traveling Threads Block for Sparrow, 12. all stitched!, 13. Will these work partner?, 14. hst quilt top, 15. verna dresden garden, 16. Pillow Talk Swap Pillow Done

What's for Dinner: Zuchinni Pie

2010-06-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

I made this pie for dinner the other night and surprisingly enough the kids gobbled it right up. The zucchini was perfect and just slightly crispy. I am not a fan of mushy zucchini and neither are the kids. This was a super simple recipe and I will definitely be making it again. Probably a lot this summer since my neighbors, an elderly couple, planted about 10 zucchini plants in their garden!

Basting Tutorial

2010-06-10T07:00:00.001-05:00

It seems like everyone has their own method of basting quilts together. I've tried lots of different ways and finally settled on this method which works for me and might work for you.

First I lay down my backing on a nice clean floor (this method will not work on carpet.) Then I tape down newspaper all along the outer edges. I use plain old blue painters tape. Then I "stretch" out and tape down my backing to the newspaper. I use the word "stretch" for lack of a better word. You want the quilt back nice and taught but you don't want to over stretch it or distort it.
Notice my diagonal pieced backing! I've been using John Flynn's method for a few years and I love it. It may be a little confusing at first but it is definitely worth learning to do it to save money on backings. Read more here and here.

Next I lay down my batting on top of my quilt top in the position I want it. I then roll about 1/2 of the batting back (from either side) and apply spray basting in about 12" rows to the quilt back. Then I slowly unroll the batting over the sprayed area smoothing out as I unroll. I then repeat the process until I reach the edge of the quilt. I then roll up the other 1/2 of the batting until I reach the sticky area that I have already spray basted and repeat the process.

I basically do the same thing for the quilt top. I position it, then roll up half of it and then I spray the batting in 12" rows and slowly unroll the quilt top as I go. Repeat for the other half of the quilt top.

I have been using spray basting by June Tailor and have used up one whole can of it and I have one can left. I was able to do several 45x45 quilts with the can as well as several doll quilt sized mini quilts. It is rather expensive at around $9/can but I got mine on clearance long ago for about $4. I don't know if I will buy more of it or try a different brand. I've heard lots of good things about using Aquanet hairspray at around $2/can I'll definitely give that a try! Maybe I can find some coupons to get it for free!

What's for Dinner: Shrimp Fajitas

2010-06-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

I love having fajitas for dinner. These are a snap to make if you keep frozen peeled and de-veined shrimp on hand. I don't really have a recipe but here are the basics:

Ingredients:
Olive oil
.5-1lb frozen peeled, de-veined shrimp (thawed)
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 med onion sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
1-2 tomatoes cut into wedges
salt and pepper
Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Flour tortillas
Hot sauce
Sour Cream

In a non stick pan heat a about 2 tablespoons olive oil. Saute onions for about 3 minutes, add sliced bell peppers and garlic, continue to saute another 2-3 minutes add shrimp and splash of Worcestershire sauce. Right before the shrimp is cooked through add the tomatoes. Saute until the shrimp is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I love a colorful dish

Serve on warmed flour tortillas and top with a dollop of sour cream and your favorite hot sauce or salsa. Enjoy!

Mach Tenn 2010

2010-06-08T15:57:00.004-05:00

I had so much fun last Saturday at my third Mach Tenn Triathlon. It was fun to see old friends who I have trained with in the past. It was even better to be back in Tennessee. I miss TN quite a bit. Of all the places that we have lived (CA, UT, AL, GA, and TN) Tennessee is my favorite so far. Well actually I think Kentucky is my favorite but we were only there for 2 months in a hotel while my husband had an out of town assignment. There is something about TN specifically Murfreesboro that just feels like home. It was torture being so close to Murfreesboro and not having enough time to stop by.

Well I ran a good race {or should that say swam, biked, and ran a good race?} I did not break last years time but I still had a good time and was only about 2 1/2 minutes slower than last year. The funny thing is that my bike time is within milliseconds of last years time, what are the odds of that? So here are some pictures of the day which you may look at if you promise not to laugh!

Here's the cheesy "before" pic. I better pay attention instead of hamming it up for the camera, we're almost up next.

yup that's me #209 right between #208 and #210, those 2 guys make me look tiny!

better get that stop watch ready, I'm next!

GO!! the water was perfect, almost too warm by the end of the swim

See that splash on the left? I'm pretty sure that's me

Coming in from the 16 mile bike ride.

I have to learn how to dismount more gracefully! Honestly I should have had that foot out of the clips long before this point.

You have to make sure you dismount and walk across this point tor you get a penalty. I forget what the guy next to me said but he was being funny! I'm working hard, honest!

Coming in from the run! ...almost... there...

I made it!! and the crowd goes wild (ok just my hubby and kids!) I can't believe I actually look good at this point!
I finished 12th in my age group at:

2:09:49

I can't wait for next year!

Modify Tradition Swap

2010-06-08T15:47:00.001-05:00

Today is the deadline for shipping out the Modify Tradition Swap quilt. I finished this last night and then I did a dumb thing! I completely forgot to go to the post office today. I will stop by tomorrow morning and this fun little quilt will make it's way into the hands of my swap partner. I hope she likes it!

It's made with a "Birdie" by Moda charm pack. There are quite a few firsts in this little quilt. My first Dresden plate, made super simple by following the great instructions by Elizabeth. My first pieced binding (it looks awesome!) and my first pebble quilting.

front

black and white detail of back

I think I love the back more than the front! I want my partner to be able to display either side so I'm not attaching a quilt label. I've made a label but it is just pinned on. Now I'll have to make one for myself!

The day before...

2010-06-04T14:38:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow is my race! These last few months of training will hopefully pay off in a new Personal Record for me at the Mach Tenn Triathlon in TN. To tell you the truth I'm a bit of a wreck right now. I'm trying to get all my gear ready checking and double checking to make sure I don't forget something important,I like running shoes! 4 miles in flip-flops would not be fun.

I'm hoping to shave off at least 6 minutes from last year's time to come in under 2 hours. Hopefully all those early morning spin classes will pay off. I didn't do as much run training this year but I can keep up a 9:30 pace over four miles which is great for me and my short little legs! I don't even worry about the swimming portion because I'm a pretty good swimmer. Those 1600yd will be over in about 18 minutes. All I can hope for is a good ride on the bike. As long as I don't wreck or have a flat all should be well! I have no aspirations of placing in my age group, I'm not that delusional! Al I want is a new PR.

A big HUGE thank you to all my sponsors that helped me reach my fundraising goal! I actually raised $280 which was $30 over my goal. If you still want to make a donation you can! It doesn't matter that I already reached my goal because it is for a great cause. You can read more about it here.

Thank You:

James E, Rick C, Kristi C, Kobie W, Nathan T, Elisabeth R, Richard V, Cassie M, Amber A, Caroline R, and Laura S

Wish me luck!

Win a GO!

2010-06-03T07:21:00.002-05:00

My friend Gene recently won a GO! from Accuquilt. How cool is that? Well I'm here to tell you that there are a few giveaways going on around bloggy land for GO's. First head on over to the Accuquilt fan page on Facebook and become a "fan." They're giving a GO! away every time they reach a set number of fans (the next drawing is at 5,000 fans.) You can also enter a drawing over on Bejeweled Quilts by Barb but if you do, make sure and tell her Petit Debutant sent ya!

Of course any of my non quilting friends can still enter the giveaway and give me the GO! if you win! :)

And the winner is...

2010-06-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

#9! Block number nine is the block that made it into Sharon Pederson's Rose of Sharon book. More exciting {at least to me it was, like jump up and down excitement} is that Sharon herself sent me an email after reading my blog! Yes MY blog!! {eeep!} I don't even know how she found my blog. I asked her if I could post about the contest on my blog and she gave me the go ahead but I don't remember pointing her to my blog {oops.}

I can't believe how unbelievably nice she is! We're going to be like BFF's from now on I just know it! :) She also gave me the inside scoop and let me know that block #9 was the one that made it into the book, but not only did it make it into the book it was also chosen to be on one of the chapter introduction pages. I seriously can't wait to get my hands on the book! I would love to make a quilt like the winning quilt but with some fabrics along the lines of Meadowsweet on Kona Charcoal. mmmm... It is quite lovely in Batiks though. I've never been a huge fan of batiks but Sharon did such a wonderful job on this one and it is absolutely stunning! That project will have to wait though because I promised myself I would not start any other projects until I've checked off a few of those UFO's I've listed over on my sidebar.

I have been working on my Modify Tradition swap quilt (which is #1 on my list.)

I hope my partner likes it!

Bonafide

2010-06-02T07:00:00.001-05:00

I recently received some great news that really put a spring in my step and has boosted my confidence as a "real" quilter. I don't know if you had found me way back in October when I posted about this EQ6 design contest.

All entries (over 850) went through two rounds of judging. If your blocks made it through round one then your blocks could possibly be featured in the "Rose of Sharon" book and DVD. Those blocks that made the cut for round one would then be sent to Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims for round two! Alex & Ricky would then select the top 12 designs to be on the cover of the book and made into the Rose of Remembrance quilt to raise awareness of Alzheimer's through the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. The whole idea was the brain child of Sharon Pederson and she put together this beautiful quilt from the top 12 blocks:

The quilt was quilted by Barbara Shapel

So what's my great news? ... well I didn't make it into the top 12 if that's what you were thinking, but I did make it into the book! *WAHOOOO!* {pardon me I can't contain myself!} The email I received was a generic mass e-mail and it did not say which of my designs or how many where picked. So it will be a surprise when the book and DVD comes out. Here are the 9 designs I submitted:

#4 is my favorite. Which one do you like?

So you want to get your hands on some of these materials and make your own? Well all of the files will be available at some point from EQ as a download-able file library. The DVD can be ordered from Nine Patch Media and will ship June 10th. The book will be published by Martingale and should be at quilt shops in August. Accuquilt has also made a die set!

Efficiency

2010-06-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

Did you notice I have been missing for a few weeks? Two to be exact, well not including yesterday's post.

Do you ever hit that slump, whether it's in your life, your sewing , or blogging where you just feel unmotivated? Not because you don't have anything to do/share but mainly because the thought of accomplishing the task seems like such a battle. I've come to realize that when I get into this "funk" I can trace the root of my problem to one thing: organization, or rather a lack thereof.

I've been in a sewing funk lately. Mainly it was because of the state of my sewing room:

Well as you can see it was a mess. For some reason the space wasn't working for me. In fact it was working against me! {treason!} I would walk in and just set my new fabrics or projects right near the desk and skedaddle on out of there as fast as I could! I was that unmotivated!

So a few nights ago I was going to do some "light" cleaning in here and it evolved into an epic rearranging of furniture, stashing of fabric, vacuuming, dusting, and more moving of furniture. The result is a more open less crowded feel to the room, even though I added an extra table!
*aah*, much better:

Those small bookcases will be replaced soon with 2 tall bookcases from storage in TN. Hopefully those book cases will give me the extra storage so I can pull out the remainder of my fabric from those boxes you see under the tables and under the frame.

I also made a list of UFO's (unfinished objects) in order of importance. I even posted them over on my left hand side bar {so you guys can keep me on track!} I have 16 UFO's that made the list. 16! That doesn't include at least one more that I found later. I didn't even realize that I had 16 works in progress. Ok well three (#2,8,9) of the 16 have not been started but need to get started.

The other thing that has hit a slump is my blogging. I was having a hard time with how long it took to write a post. Most of the time is spent {or is it wasted?} on the images! I edit 99% of the images before posting them here. I actually love editing images so that's not a big deal, but blogger only lets you upload one image at a time and each one of those images takes forever to load! I finally decided to do some research on the free Picasa account that we get as part of blogger. I'm still learning the ins and outs of Picasa but I think that it will enable me to more efficiently upload my images without taking up so much of my time. i still have much to learn and kinks to work out but I think I'll enjoy using Picasa

So here is to being efficient!

Birthday Girl

2010-05-31T13:07:00.003-05:00

My little girl happens to share my birthday month. Even cooler than that is that she shares a birthday with two of her grandparents, Mr. PD's mom's mom on one side and my mom's dad on the other side of the family.

This year she turned 4! I can't believe how quickly the time has flown. We're not big into big birthday bashes around here (at least not yet.) We prefer to have it be a family affair. The birthday boy/girl gets to pick the dinner menu and the type of cake they want. This year Ellie Mae requested "hotdogs, corn and fruit." Now that's a meal I can handle! On the other hand Mr. PD has a birthday next week and he requested tamales! (I'm hoping to convince him to pick something easier!)

Ellie Mae also requested cupcakes, pink ones, instead of cake.

...and as you can see she had a great time blowing out those candles.

Scheming...

2010-05-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

I love color.

This rental house is stifling my color groove! I'm working on a furniture project that will rip-off Pottery Barn. {Notice I didn't say Pottery Barn is ripping me off, nope I'm going to outsmart PB by building it myself and saving $1000.} It's an entry way system that will hopefully keep my house tidier, help me with my sanity, and temper (it never fails that we always spend 10 minutes looking for shoes before we leave the house, especially when I'm in a hurry) assuming I can train my kids and husband to use it!

I've painted the pieces we have so far a creamy white color that honestly just looks like plain white! I'm not really happy with it but I think I will leave it for now and instead accessorize with color, glorious color! Ideally I would love to paint the basement walls in "Alpaca" gray, I would love to re-paint the entry system in either a mustardy-yellow "Anjou Pear" or a toned down green "Sassy Green" and I would add accessories in "Youthful Coral" (pink) and "Frolic" (green)

The color chips are so much prettier than what the camera could capture and they are all Sherwin Williams paints. I think I could convince my landlord to let me paint the basement (kids playroom and where guests would stay) if only I could convince Mr. PD

Cathedral Window Pillow

2010-05-14T07:00:00.002-05:00

I recently had a finish! Lately it seems like I have a ton of unfinished projects or projects that "need" to be started.

I finished this lovely pillow:

for my girl Heidi:

whom I was so lucky to visit last month on my little trip to Utah. This pillow is super special because it is made using fabrics from her husband's ties. The red fabric is from the first tie she ever gave him, and the silver fabric is from the tie he wore at their wedding

I finished it last week but I couldn't post pictures until I was sure that Heidi had received it. I mailed it out Wednesday afternoon and it made it to UT on Saturday, just in time for Mother's Day!

I had been working on this pillow for about a month. It really isn't horribly difficult but it was my first time making the Cathedral Window pattern and I was just too afraid of ruining the ties! I finally just took the plunge and finished it up. I must say it turned out beautifully. I basically followed the instructions on A La Mode and can be found here (part 1, part2) Instead of pinning all the window fabrics and the arcs, I used a fine line of Elmer's glue and heat set it with my iron. I glued all of the windows and arcs down before heading to my sewing machine. By doing all of the gluing I was able to do continuous stitching from one arc to the next with minimal starting and stopping.

Before sewing but after all the windows were glued down
This is how I did continuous line stitching

I love the finished product and I have always admired the Cathedral Window quilts. I don't know if I have a queen size quilt in me! I may just have to compromise at pillows!

Quilt re-visited

2010-05-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

I previously mentioned I got to visit UT last month. Well I was able to hang out with my husband's sister as well! More girl talk, more food, and more fun!

She totally indulged me by visiting my husband's grandma with me and then drove me around to buy some:

Oh how I love thee, let me count the ways:

Raspberry truffles

Marzipan

Blueberry Truffle
Key Lime TruffleLemon truffle

I tried their new Strawberry Truffle it was awesome (sorry no pic) and I tried Ginger, it was interesting but good

Yes I am a fan of the truffles! I find them to be less sweet than those my husband prefers, like the Bordeaux's and Butterscotch squares.

Then she took me to an awesome Thai restaurant were I had some super awesome curry! Then we went back to her place and stayed up eating strawberries with sour cream sprinkled with brown sugar and watched the blind side. The next day was Sunday and the day I was flying home. So we got up early and headed over to Temple Square to watch Music and the Spoken Word live! It was an amazing performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in a beautiful building. It was a fun weekend visit!

Before leaving I remembered to take some decent pictures of the Recipe for Friendship Quilt that my other SIL (Ari) and I made for Ruth.

Seeing that quilt reminded me that I still have to quilt my daughter's version of the quilt! The top has been pieced for almost a year now! Shame on me!

Honey Wheat Bread

2010-05-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in a previous post that I got an awesome bread book for my birthday.

I would like to report that I have put it to good use! I've already made 4 loaves of the "Whole Wheat Brioche" and it has flown off the counter! It's made with eggs, honey, and butter. You can find the recipe here on the HBin5 blog. Make sure you use the dough within 5 days and wash your container between uses (because of the eggs.)

Now it may seem like a lot of eggs and honey but you have to remember that you are making 2 BIG loaves of bread. This bread is so delicious on it's own but is subtle enough to be used for sandwiches (PB or ham.)

See! Even little mice (EJ) can't get enough of this delicious bread!
OK now for some recipe hints,tips, tricks, and what not to do.

The first batch I made (pictured) was made with store bought "White Wheat Flour" (King Arthur I believe.) I bought it at my local Winn Dixie (golden springs.) It was on sale for $3.49 and should make 4-6 batches of dough (8-12 loaves.) It looked just like the flour I had ground myslef (more on that.) It is light in color and had a good fine consistency. When I mixed up the dough it was a pretty wet dough. After the initial rise it pretty much filled up my 5 qt bucket.

On baking day I used half of the dough for 1 loaf. The dough was sticky but had good elasticity and I was very easily able to form a loaf. I noticed that the color of the dough was yellowish. After baking the loaf rose quite a bit over the pan. One of the pans that I filled a bit to high dripped one blob of dough on my oven but not much. As you can see the baked bread has a yellowish coloring and it looks almost cake like. It was very moist and not too crumbly. Delicious!

The second batch of bread I made was made with the my food storage wheat. I thought it was the same as the store bought white wheat but I was wrong! It looked the same and had the same consistency but when the dough was mixed up it did not look yellow at all but tan. It was a bit drier as a dough as well. It rose perfectly as the first batch and when I went to shape the dough I realized it was drier and not as elastic. I had a slightly harder time shaping the loaf to be smooth because of the lack of elasticity. I think this could be fixed by 1) adding more water 2) adding less wheat flour and more white flour 3) I'm going to be trying to mix in some of the store bought white wheat flour and a bit more water as well.

Once baked the bread had a darker tan coloring to it and was a bit more crumbly after slicing. I noticed it also got stale quicker, probably because it was drier to begin with. It was good but you have to be used to the wheat taste in order to appreciate it. A few days ago I confirmed that I did indeed have Hard Red Wheat in my food storage. It is a stronger flavor than White Wheat and is not so great for bread. White wheat is the best for making bread, but since I have quite a bit or red wheat I'll be trying to use it up so I can replace it with white wheat.

What's for Dinner? Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

2010-05-11T10:36:00.011-05:00

Last month I was lucky enough to be able to visit family in friends in Utah for a very brief but fun visit. It was so awesome to hang out with my SIL Kristie who is such an awesome friend to me. We had fun just talking late into the night, shopping, eating, and going to the temple. It's so fun to hang out with someone that you can totally relate to and have long conversations about girl stuff, vent about motherhood frustrations, share motherhood triumphs, and just uplift each other.

While there I was also able to meet up with my girl Heidi, who recently moved out to UT after her husband passed away. It was so great to see her and visit with her even if it was just for an evening. Oh and her awesome-est FIL adjusted my neck after the very painful injury I sustained here. It was glorious! I may just be in love with going to the chiropractor! Seriously after he adjusted my neck I could look up, look down, and every which way!

Anyway I met my friend Heidi for dinner at an awesome restaurant called Paradise Bakery. She raved so much about their tomato soup that I gave in and ordered a bowl. I must tell you that I am not a big tomato soup fan. I don't like that most are made with a sweet taste, it makes me want to gag. A lot of Mexican dishes are tomato based but they are not sweet at all, instead they are smokey and spicy (not hot) and seasoned with cumin, oregano, onion, and garlic. So I had my reservations about trying this soup. The first bite was so amazing! My taste buds got a treat with the spices, the creaminess, and the crunchiness of the tortilla strips.

So I got home from my trip and I ranted and I raved to Mr. PD about this super awesome tomato soup. Of course I had to look on the internet for a copycat recipe and this one came pretty close! I must warn you though, half of the recipe still makes a very large pot! Next time I will make 1/4 the recipe for my family of 4 (assuming I don't want leftovers.)

I could not find jarred tomatoes so I used 1 bag of these sun dried tomatoes that I found in the produce section of my grocery store. They were around $3. This small bag would be perfect for the 1/4 recipe but the 1/2 recipe could use more than 1 bag.

Here's a quick tip. When opening up a can of something for a recipe that only requires a tablespoon, freeze the left overs in an ice cube tray. When they are frozen transfer the cubes to a baggie and they are ready for next time! This works great for tomato paste, chipotle (shown), etc.
Each cube is approximately 1 tablespoon, at least my trays were, you may want to measure yours with water first.

Totally Awesome One Seam Flying Geese Block

2010-05-09T08:36:00.003-05:00

Last month at our LQG (local quilt guild) meeting we were challenged to have 100% participation in our monthly block drawing. The chosen block was this super easy One Seam Flying geese. I was so excited when I saw this that I almost peed in my pants. It couldn't be more simple and brilliant! I love learning new ways to make blocks faster. Let's face it, I have limited time for sewing and I like to feel as though I accomplished something in my 5 spare minutes!

Now some of you may have already seen this technique since this video has been posted for almost a year. Apparently I live in a cave {oh wait I live in a small town in Alabama so I guess that's almost like living in a cave!} because I hadn't run across this technique yet. So in my loving, giving nature, I am sharing the video here to enlighten other cave dwellers like myself (*cough *cough - Joy). Enjoy:

By the way if you haven't already signed up for a free account over at The Quilt Show, what are you waiting for? They have several free tip videos and a while back I got a free voucher for 2 free past shows! Make sure you sign up for the newsletter because that is where a lot of the tips can be found.

PS. Happy Mother's Day to all the Mother's! The future of the world rests in your hands.

“Motherhood is the greatest potential influence either for good or ill in human life. The mother's image is the first that stamps itself on the unwritten page of the young child's mind. It is her caress that first awakens a sense of security; her kiss, the first realization of affection; her sympathy and tenderness, the first assurance that there is love in the world.” ~ David O. McKay

Courage and Love

2010-05-05T10:27:00.002-05:00

I started following Stephanie's blog shortly after the accident. I'm so grateful to her for her example of faith and love of our Savior and our Heavenly Father. I'm grateful that she has the courage to share her story with millions of us. Reading her blog always makes me cry with her for her joys, her triumphs, and her failures. I always come away from her blog with a resolve to be better. Thank you Stephanie for your courage.

Here is a lovely new video of her life. I'm warning you though, grab some tissues!

Birthday/Mother's Day Giveaway

2010-05-03T13:30:00.004-05:00

UPDATE 5/9/10: The winner via Random Number Generator was #12
Marcia said... Please enter me in your giveaway. I love my mother because she is still eager to learn and try new things (especially foods) at age 79. She wants to try Greek yogurt but our little local store does not carry it. So, I want the Greek yogurt for my mother.

Congrats marcia! I've sent an email so please get back to me with your contact info!

I had a really awesome Birthday and now I want to share with you!

Recently Yoplait and My Blog Spark sent me a “Nourish Your Inner Goddess” gift pack so I could try out the new Yoplait Greek Yogurt. The gift pack included: a super soft bath wrap, slippers, other bath goodies, and coupons for 2 free Yoplait Greek yogurt cups.

I have noticed all the Greek yogurts popping up in my grocery stores. With my 2 coupon vouchers I picked up a strawberry and a honey vanilla flavored cup (blueberry and plain also available). The packaging boasts of having 2x the protein (12 grams to be exact) of leading yogurts and 0% fat.

For being fat free (plus having more protein) I thought it was pretty tasty. I didn't notice any after taste (like with Splenda) in either flavor. I did notice that the strawberry flavor was a bit more smooth than the honey vanilla flavor. What I loved most (besides the 12 grams of protein) was that these yogurt cups aren't overly sweet. The Greek strawberry 6oz cup has 18grams of sugar when compared to the Original Yoplait strawberry flavor which has 27grams of sugar per 60z cup. The Greek strawberry only has 130 calories per 6oz cup making it a pretty good snack!

While I really enjoyed this yogurt I don't know how often I will be buying it. My local grocery store has them priced at $1.10 each! I know I've seen them for less at Walmart. Hopefully Yoplait will continue to roll out the coupons for this yogurt to make it more affordable. In fact you can print off a $0.30 coupon here courtesy of Yoplait! This coupon would get you a great deal if your grocery store doubles coupons (sadly mine doesn't.)

So leave me a comment for your entry to win your very own “Nourish Your Inner Goddess” gift pack. Tell me anything, which flavor would you like to try? Why you love your mom so much? How do you relax? anything really! I'll pick a winner on Saturday evening.

Update 5/3: Good question by one of my readers, I'm not sure if Yoplait/My Blog Spark is willing to ship internationally so I will double check and get back to you ASAP. You may still leave a comment just in case they do!

Update 5/4: I was informed that this giveaway is for residents of the continental US, further more they will be unable to deliver to a PO Box. Sorry to my international readers.

EQ7 coming soon!

2010-05-01T19:45:00.006-05:00

Have you heard that the new version of Electric Quilt is coming out May 31st? I haven't decided yet if I'm going to upgrade or not. I have really enjoyed my EQ6 and this new EQ7 has some nifty features.

The very best feature, in my opinion, is the new activation policy. It used to be that you could only activate EQ up to 3 times. This meant that you could put EQ on 3 different computers. it also meant that if one of your computers died it used up one of your activations! Now you can activate and deactivate EQ7 as many times as you like! This means that you can install it and not have to worry about what will happen if your computer dies or if you sell off your computer.

You can also work on images directly in EQ7 and apply "symmetries" to an image to make cool things like this:

I am also excited about the new Shrink and Flip feature. You can use it to make new blocks taking an existing block and rotating however you like.

Do you own a version of EQ? Do you like it? Will you upgrade?

Birthday Wish List

2010-04-29T08:52:00.011-05:00

My birthday is Sunday {woot woot.} I'm not 30 yet but I'll be pretty dang close. I'm not one of those women who is afraid of getting older, maybe it has to do with being {constantly!} mistaken for being 15-17 years old! Yeah, I know - How awful is that?!

It's not that bad actually, except for when I'm with my church girls (I'm the leader of the Beehives, 12-13 year old girls) and I blend right in! I'm a petite gal in height and weight so yeah, I blend right in. Heck, some of my girls are much taller than me. Hopefully my take charge attitude and self confidence shows that I'm NOT one of the 12 year-olds.

The only other time it is annoying to look so young is when I'm pregnant. Especially if I'm out and about by myself or with one of my kids. You should see the dirty looks I get especially from other middle-aged women. When they are giving me one of those piercing looks of disapproval, the hormonal crazy person inside of me just wants to go over there and give them some of my "oh-no-you-did-nt" attitude. It makes me want to yell at them to mind their own business and tell them how happily married I am (now 8 years!!) to a wonderful husband who has a great job so I can stay home to raise my children, and about how they can take their judgments and shove it. {It's a good thing I'm only hormonal while pregnant - which I'm not mom!} Interestingly enough I've never noticed any of the same looks when I'm out with my husband. I jokingly tell him that the looks we get then, are directed at him for "robbing the cradle." Actually when we are all out together we get tons of nice compliments about our family, our well behaved kids, and about what "cute children we make." {I still don't know how to feel about that lost comment/compliment!}

Mr PD wanted some direction as to what I would like for my birthday. Usually our birthday requests are at least slightly influenced by our needs. So I thought about it and came to the conclusion that right now our needs are met. How great is that blessing? I'm glad that my Heavenly Father has given me that gift for my birthday, that all of our needs are met: we are debt free, we have a budget, we have food storage, we have a home, we have food, we have friends, we have a job, we are healthy (when I know so many friends who are not), we are Happy, we are TOGETHER, we are at Peace, and we can help others. My cup definitely runneth over.

My wants are simple, oh sure I could ask for {not that it would happen, ever or anytime soon}:

a longarm; $12-$20Kbut I'm not willing to make my family go into debt for something I can't drive to the store

an AccuQuilt Studio Cutterat $1600 I don't think so!

Instead I would really appreciate:

a cute little timer; <$4 Bed Bath & Beyond (not for cooking but for limiting my time on the internet! )

any of the following kitchen gadgets to go with the amazing book I already got from my MIL

a danish dough hook/whisk; $7 amazon
a bread box to keep all that yummy bread fresh; $15 Target (my Target had these on clearance for $9)

and something to hold my recipes and books while I'm cooking; $15-25 target
See, simple! Oh and I wouldn't say no to a Hobby Lobby gift card! Did you notice that there are no quilting items/fabric? I'm trying to minimize my stash and use what I have, so I've put myself on a fabric diet. I could use a new quilting ruler and batting but a Hobby Lobby gift card would take care of that.

What would you love to get for your birthday?

Not so original!

2010-04-28T12:28:00.004-05:00

I had a good laugh the other day when I realized that my "original" tulip flower block was not so original {ok so it was just a smidgen disappointing.} Browsing through my flickr faves I came across Amy's (Park City Girl's) DQS7:

Isn't it gorgeous?

Apparently it made an impression since I didn't even remember having it in my favorites. Still it was fun to figure out the block for myself. I hope Amy doesn't mind that my subconscious really wants to be like her!

I have no idea what size or how Amy constructed her block. I've had questions regarding a pattern for my block my answers:

Where can I find the pattern? Well the tulips can be found in "Jelly Roll Quilts," and a paper piecing template can be found on Sentimental Stitches (I can't seem to find the link so I don't know if she removed the pattern, you could always ask her!)

There is no pattern for the way I made my block, I just made it up! I think I will be writing a pattern for my quilt once it is finished though.

So much for my originality! Then again, it's really hard to be completely original in quilting where creativity and inspiration is drawn from so many other blocks/quilts, it's hard to know who "did it" first.

Time for some serious Fundraising

2010-04-26T13:46:00.004-05:00

I can't believe that my Triathlon is little more than a month away!! I must admit that I have been quite the slacker this year with my fundraising efforts. Honestly the effort has been non-existent! That's not good at all. If I don't meet my goal I'll be letting down a really good charity not to mention I'll feel crummy about myself, but I also have to think about the example I'm setting for my kids and for my Young Women girls. Especially since I have been trying to teach them about commitment and following through.

So I'm gearing up my efforts with a special sale in my Etsy Shop. There will be 25 special silhouette listings with the title "Free Digital Portrait Silhouette with Donation to Charity." When you purchase one of these listings and make a $10 (tax deductible! oh yeah!) donation to my fundraising efforts you will get one of my classic portrait ($15 value) silhouettes FREE!

So help a girl out and spread the word will ya?

Of course you can also make a donation even if you don't want a portrait silhouette! Every little bit helps and will be greatly appreciated, even if it's only $1.

What can $1 do?

Hope Home care for an orphan for an entire day.
Life saving medicine to 7 Haitian Earthquake Refugees .
1 days worth of treatment to a child suffering from Tuberculosis.
25,000 Gallons of clean drinking water .

Here is how you can donate:
1) Head on over to: www.miraclemarathon.net/runner.php
3) Select "Norma Evans" from the drop down menu
4) Click the yellow "Donate" button
5) "Norma Evans" and "Mach Tenn Triathlon" should be highlighted.
6) Fill out the form to make your desired donation through PayPal.
7) You will get a receipt (tax deductible!) and your name will appear on my fundraising site.

I thank you humbly in advance,

Bunny Peeps Shirt Stencil

2010-04-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I don't know what comes over me when I decide that I must do something at an insanely late hour or last minute! I seriously wonder when Mr. Pd is going to have me committed to a craft rehab program!

Such was the case the night before Easter. This year I didn't bother making cutesy matching outfits, nor did I bother purchasing them. I thought I would be ok with my decision but apparently I was wrong! I got the itch to have matching shirts for my kids at about 6pm on Saturday night.

I very quickly drew up a cute bunny on Illustrator then copy and pasted it so I would have 3 because odd numbers are better than even numbers {trust me on this.} Then I used my handy dandy Silhouette craft cutter {which had been sitting in it's box since we moved in January, *cough *cough} to cut it out of freezer paper for me. A little bit of craft paint and I had these lovelies ready by 9pm!

And because I'm such a nice person {a nice procrastinator!} I'm sharing the template with you. If you've got a Silhouette or a Cricut (with software) you can easily convert this file over to for use on your machine. Never mind that Easter is over but you can make these for next year! Heck they are cute enough that I'm going to make one for myself and I will proudly wear it all year long! You do have to fill in the gaps with a fine brush.
*by downloading this image you agree to use this template for your own personal use and not for items that are for sale. You may not re-distribute the image by any means. You may not re-format the image for to a .gsd (or any other format) for sale. You are welcome to link back to my site for others to obtain the image for themselves.

What's for Dinner? Low Country Boil

2010-04-24T07:00:00.002-05:00

It's been awhile since I did one of these post! I really wanted to share one of my favorite southern dishes: Low Country Boil (minus the newspapers, look it up!)

It couldn't be easier to make this dish and it is ALWAYS a crowd pleaser. What's not to love? Sausage, corn, shrimp and potatoes and don't forget the corn bread! This time I added carrots because I saw it with carrots the other day at Cracker Barrel and thought "why not?" I follow a super simple recipe by my favorite all time cook Miss Paula Deen! Honestly it's so easy I don't even look at the recipe anymore!

I really, I mean reheheally want to go to her restaurant in Savannah, Ga and I really want to stay at her cottage home on Tybee Island the "Ya'll Come Inn!" I also wouldn't mind a few pieces of furniture from her collection. OK yeah, I really love Paula Deen!

MTQB: Tulips for May

2010-04-23T13:13:00.011-05:00

As I mentioned before, I joined the Modern Tradition Quilt Bee back in January. I love the internet and how it can bring strangers together to become quilting buddies! 12 lovely ladies {myself included, so I can say that! Ha Ha} make up the MTQB. We each picked a month, I picked May (my birthday month) so that I could make myself a quilt because believe it or not I still don't have a quilt for myself! So I decided that the resulting quilt from MTQB would be a birthday present to myself.

So here's how an internet quilt bee works:
1) A few weeks before your month you decide on a pattern, make a few test blocks, and decide on your fabrics.
2) You cut up your fabrics and package them up so that you have a package to send to each member (minus yourself)
3) You send off each package with instructions to each of your members and hopefully they get them in a timely manner towards the beginning of your month so that they can have all month to ~~procrastinate~~ work on your block or blocks! {I'm speaking of myself here!}
4) Your buddies get to work and each make your block or blocks and mail them back to you at the end of the month!
5) You eagerly watch the mailbox and ooh and aah over each block and think how awesome it is to get a quilt top assembled without a ton of work on your part!

Here is a the block my fellow bees will be making for me:

Which I will then turn unto this:
Hopefully I will have this quilt finished by my 30th birthday next year!

The fabrics are Hunky Dory by Chez Moi for Moda and I love them! It's a very Springy color palette. The background fabric is Kona Cotton in Snow which is an off white. I really wanted to try a light gray background but since my color card has gone missing I didn't want to risk ordering fabric online and getting something completely different!

I was inspired by the traditional tulip blocks set on point as seen here:

Delft Tulips

by MICHELE CRAWFORD as seen in The Quilter Magazine May 09

Janet Wickell

Robicole

But it wasn't until I saw this one that I knew that this was the basic construction I wanted for the tulips:

Sentimental Stitches

... and then I stumbled upon this one here:

TheKnicksofKnacks

That's when I knew this would be my May block!

Creative space

2010-04-23T07:00:00.001-05:00

Here's a peek at a little corner of my sewing room.

Can I just give a big shout out to my wonderful husband who supports my need to be creative!!! I know I'm so lucky that he indulges me with my own room, that he very politely listens to me when I'm raving like a lunatic about the newest fabric line, or when he gives me a color suggestion (when I ask) knowing that I'll probably ignore his choice anyway! I love my Mr. PD!

Remember this picture frame I posted a while ago? Well my made some itsy bitsy teeny weeny little red and aqua yo yo's. They measure about 3/4". Tiny! and super duper cute!

I used the Clover yo yo maker {xs I think.} I have one more frame so I'll be making another one of these.

March MTQB blocks

2010-04-22T10:10:00.003-05:00

I know it's almost May and here I am posting my March blocks! To my defense these were sent out merely a week late and I didn't get my fabric until about halfway through the month! I have not gotten my fabrics for the month of April though so we'll see if I can crank those out in time!

These blocks are a modern version of the Granny's flower garden. You can see the post and find the link to the pattern here. I really love the patchwork versions. Lesly sent some Essex linen for the background. I like the feel of the fabric but I'm not sure I like it's extra thickness in the seams. I think I'll be sticking to my Kona Cottons! Which reminds me of an awful catastrophe: I can't find my Kona Color Card anywhere!!! I have turned my sewing room upside down looking for it (not to mention a few other rooms as well.) I can't remember if I have used it since I moved to our new place so the chances are that it might be stuck in a box in our storage closet. Mr. PD joked around that maybe one of my quilting friends made off with it. {Joy do you have my card? LOL just kidding!} I wouldn't blame them if they did!

May is my month for the Modern Tradition Quilt Bee. I picked May because it's my birthday month! I'm almost done with the instructions so I'll be posting a sneak peek soon. I'm so excited this quilt that has been floating around in my head come to life!

Time Management

2010-04-22T09:14:00.007-05:00

There is so much to do in a day and it always seems like there is not nearly enough time to do it all. Over the last few weeks I've realized that I'm a busy woman! There are so many things that have to get done and then there are those so much more fun things that I would like to get done.

I don't know about you but I often feel like a hamster on a wheel: Going nowhere fast! Before I know it it's Monday again and it's time to do it all over again. Lately there has been a lot of this going on around here:

running

swimming

biking

and this has become my second home:

My 5th triathlon is coming up in little over a month! I'm trying to set a personal record at the Mach Tenn Triathlon this year. Last year I shaved off 15 minutes {that's huge!} from the first time I did it, coming in at about 2 hrs 5 min. My goal is to come in under 2 hours this year. I'm a pretty good swimmer and I know I can't shave off more than a few seconds from last years 18 minute swim time (.6 mile swim.) I can maybe shave off a few minutes of my run time but I know I'm not a very good runner! So my best bet is to improve my bike time. I know I have a lot of room for improvement there. I've been biking twice as much as I did last year and I have even joined a 5:30 am spin class.

It has not been easy to get up so early in the morning but it is the only time I can do it without sacrificing time with my family. Training for an event takes so much time out of your daily life that sometimes I wonder why I'm doing it. This is were time management and prioritizing comes into play. Sometimes I have to give up other things, like blogging, quilting, doing the dishes, or hanging out with friends in order to accomplish my goals. Other times I give up a workout so I can do something special with my family or because my church obligations are more important {and often much more enjoyable} than a 4 mile run!

Unless you are a professional, life goes on outside of training, you still have to do all the daily everyday things like go to work, get the kids ready for school, make dinner, wash the dishes, do laundry, feed the dogs, etc. etc! Training is what you do for "fun?!"

So why do I do it if it takes so much time, effort and is so hard? You might think my main reason is weird but, I feel that I draw closer to my Heavenly Father when I train for an event! Let me give you a few examples.

1) I realize that with the Lord's help I CAN do hard things. Yes, I often pray to my Heavenly Father to help get over the next hill, the next, mile, or the next 10 minutes! I can't tell you how awesome it is to receive that surge of confidence that Heavenly Father knows that I CAN do this. Once I realized that I can do things that are physically hard, I realized that I can do things that are spiritually hard.

2) I usually try to raise funds for a charity. By doing so I am helping/serving others and thus serving my Heavenly Father. "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:7) Having this goal really motivates me to not give up because there are people counting on me to help.

My other reason is that I want my children to learn that they can accomplish hard things but it takes hard work to do so. I especially want my daughter to learn this lesson. Being a woman doesn't mean that you can't do amazing things. Although I believe being a mom is super amazing! {and it's definitely hard work!}

So basically what I am saying is, I hope you all don't stop reading my blog if I go AWOL til June! Believe me, I'm busy I just don't think you all want to hear about the piles of laundry, dishes falling out of the sink, blisters on my toes, or other silly little things. I do have things to share with you but blogging definitely takes time!

Have you ever trained for an event? How did you find balance in all that you have to do?

Fabric Stash Additions

2010-04-13T19:46:00.004-05:00

About 3 weeks ago my stash grew a bit.

Some Robert Kaufman, Tula Pink, American Jane and others all 1/4 yd cuts

was able to score some beautiful fabrics at an awesome 50% off! Sadly the sale was from our LQS (local quilt shop) closing it's doors. I don't know the reasons behind the shop closing but the owner (Becky) is one of the nicest ladies I have ever met. She never minded my kids coming along and always talked to them when they where there.

I don't quilt as much as I would like mainly because of time but also because it's an expensive hobby! This stack of fabrics would have set me back close to $70! Yikes. It's a good thing I don't shop for fabrics too often.

Stupid

2010-04-13T19:06:00.002-05:00

I did something pretty dumb, if not right out stupid today. The result is an injured neck that I can barely move. I wish I had a pretty cool story to go along with my hunchbacked appearance (because I can't seem to straighten up.) Anything would be better than the truth, like: "I got bucked from a horse" "I got into a bike wreck" or "I fell down the stairs" but sadly I made a wrong choice and I should have known better. I'm almost embarrassed to tell you the reason for my dilemma, but maybe you can learn from my mistake: I didn't bother to do a full cool down after a workout. It's not the first time I skimp on the cool down but you better believe it will be the last time!

I know I have neglected this little blog from time to time so I don't even know if I had mentioned that triathlon training season has begun! I completed my first triathlon 2 years ago and I am hooked. I have a few races planned for this year and so I have been training like crazy! I know this is more of a crafty blog so I haven't' bothered to fill you in on all the details of my daily/weekly training adventures and mishaps. Today however, has earned the right to shared with all!

I decided to do a little cross training today so I started off my day with a Jillian Michael's "30-Day Shred" level 3. I was doing just fine and was amazed at how well I was doing (meaning I wasn't huffing and puffing.) There is a giant mirror in my living room and I even thought to myself "Hey I'm looking pretty dang good!" {I know, I know, Pride cometh before the fall.} Anyway I was busy "shredding" when my buddy called (yes it's your fault Corrie, j/k) and interrupted my workout for about 15 minutes. After said call I went back to "shredding" and when I finished the workout I cut the cool down short so I could head on over to the YMCA for a swim. Well the cool down part that I skipped was all the arm stretches and {yup you guessed it} the neck stretches.

I got to the YMCA and got all decked out in my nifty triathlon gear and my new waterproof mp3 player that my most wonderful hubby got me recently. I warmed up with a nice 500yd swim (20 laps) and then decided to do another 500yds at a faster pace. I was on my 2nd lap when it happened. I at the wall for the open turn and was getting ready to push off the wall when something caught my eye out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and then didn't pt my head back down in time for the push off. As I pushed off the wall my head was a bit higher than it should have been so there was quite a bit of force from the water pushing down on top of my head and that's when I felt the "pinch." I struggled to finish that 500yd swim and my neck has gone downhill from there. I'm so stiff I feel like a grandma!

So now I'm lying in bed and applying heat and ice to my poor neck. The silver lining? I should be able to get some blogging done! Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to make my 5:30am spin class {cycling, not yarn!} or the biking youth activity of tomorrow afternoon. Who knows maybe I'll feel better by then because right now I feel like I got hit by a truck, bucked off a horse, and whip-lashed!

Moral of the story? Cool down after a workout!

Accuquilt Go Giveaway

2010-04-11T17:04:00.004-05:00

So have you checked out my "give away" section yet? It's right over there ---->
You'll definitely want to head over to IHAN to enter a month long giveaway. Each day IHAN is giving away a different quilt related item. Tomorrow IHAN will be posting an Accuquilt GO!!! I would love love to win this nifty tool especially since it is out of my price range! I know the odds of winning are minimal but it's still fun to dream! Ok and if you win please let me come over to use it!

You have until April 15th to enter any of her 30 day giveaway posts. So what are you waiting for?

Blog Link:: http /www.ihaveanotion.blogspot.com/
Website Link : http://ihavea-notion.com/store/

Project 365 - Week 10

2010-03-29T07:00:00.002-05:00

I'm still going strong with my picture a day "journal." I must admit to cheating a little bit though. Sometimes I take a few pictures on the same day (especially to make up for cloudy bad lighting day.) On those days I take pictures of common occurrences at our house, like dirty dishes or toys all over the floor.

It does take a lot more time than I thought it would, not in the picture taking, but in the photo editing, and watermarking of the images. Not to mention uploading and then adding captions and blogging about it! I love it though, it has been fun capturing our daily lives through a lens.

1. Project 365 week 10, 2. 3-5 DQS8 Ready for binding, 3. 3-6 House Party, 4. 3-7 Yet again..., 5. 3-8 DQS8 on it's way, 6. 3-9 Re-purpose, 7. 3-10 Car Trip, 8. 3-11 DQS8 Received

I know there are a lot of pictures of the doll quilt this week, but that is what I was trying to finish up. My favorite image this week is the doll quilt I received from my partner.

See those little black frames? I'm making something super cute fro my sewing room. I'm almost done with it so I'll be showing it to you soon.

Project 365 - Week 9

2010-03-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

1. Project 365 Week 9, 2. 2-26 Polka Dot Tea Cup, 3. 2-27 DQS8 so far, 4. 2-28 Better Late..., 5. 3-1 Heal thy Lunch, 6. 3-2 Flying High, 7. 3-3 DQS8 Quilting, 8. 3-4 Sunnier

What can I say? I loved this week!

*Note: you can click on any of the links to see the image larger and to read the caption.

Slice of Paradise

2010-03-27T07:00:00.003-05:00

I made this yummy cake for my NEW 6 year old. {I can't believe I have a 6 year old, that makes me sound old... but at least I'm still be mistaken for one of my YW (12-18 year old girls)}

This cake is awesome! So light and fruity with it's strawberry-kiwi lime goodness, I could almost eat the whole thing myself.

You can find the recipe here from Pillsbury. I changed it up a bit just to keep it looking more like a cake. I have also made it just like in the recipe and also in a trifle bowl. It's super easy and always a crowd pleaser. I may just have to make it again for Easter dinner next week.

Project 365 - Week 8

2010-03-26T11:02:00.005-05:00

1. Project 3 65 Week 8, 2. 2-19 Spring Surprise, 3. 2-20a Gardening Seminar, 4. 2-20b Mittleider Gardening, 5. 2-21 DQS8 Progress, 6. 2-22 Modern Fabric, 7. 2-23 Impromptu Picnic, 8. 2-24 Thrifty Find, 9. 2-25 New Tableware

From this week:
- I love the fabrics that I got to play with.
- I love that having children keeps you on your toes and let's you be a kid yourself, like with our indoor picnic.
- I love that little iron I found at the thrift store.
- I love my new red and teal dishes I got from Target.
- ... and yes I love the girl in the red sweat shirt!

*Note: you can click on any of the links to see the image larger and to read the caption.

Tons of giveaways!

2010-03-23T12:15:00.004-05:00

Don't forget to check out my giveaway section to see all the wonderful giveaways I have found recently. Just click on the "giveaways button" on the right hand side!

National Quilting Day...

2010-03-18T14:33:00.007-05:00

is this Saturday March 20, 2010 (annually the third Saturday in March.) So get some quilting in this weekend! {I'm just sayin'}

... or you could just make one of these lovely skirts:

You can find the free pattern for "The Saturday Market Skirt" on Sandi Henderson's "Portabellopixie" blog. I think it would look just as good in some Meadowsweet (which I have in my stash!)

** The National Quilting Association started National Quilting Day in 1991. You can download a free pattern on their site.

I Never Thought...

2010-03-11T21:04:00.004-06:00

That I would approach quilting in a prayerful manner. Sounds weird doesn't it? Let me explain.

I have a super awesome dear friend who lost her dear husband recently. Actually a month ago today {and I can't believe it's been that long already.} My friend is moving across the country to be closer to family and I have been helping her paint her current home in order to put it on the market {which I might add is looking pretty awesome so far!} Well today she gave me this:

Those are her husband's dress shirts. He was a professor at Jacksonville State University so he wore a lot of button down shirts. A few weeks ago I offered to make a quilt out of those shirts for her and their lovely 3 year old daughter.

Now that I have those shirts in my possession I have to decide what to make! I want to make something special and meaningful for both my friend and her daughter. I think this quite the honor {and task.} So yes, I have been praying for guidance so that I can be guided to make something truly special for a friend that has taught me so much. Something that will truly be a little piece of "Phil the Brave." {who, did I mention, was an amazing artist and graphic designer... eeep! talk about a tough task! Gotta make sure the quilt is harmonious! LOL}

...and can I just say the top 3 shirts on the right are calling my name? Must be spring fever!

Etsy Love Wednesday

2010-03-10T13:19:00.005-06:00

It's a very dark and stormy day here in Alabama, lots of rain, thunder and lightning. I hope your day is sunnier and brighter, if not here are some Etsy picks to brighten your day.

On a day like today I wish I was here:Can't you just feel the nice warm salty air? Irina Photography has several other awe inspiring prints available too!

Look at these adorable ties by JasmineArtWorks. I think these would be perfect for Easter Sunday.

Wow! I love this vintage owl planter made by fruitflypie. The great news is that there are different styles and colors available.
Have a super Wednesday!

On It's Merry Little Way

2010-03-10T12:54:00.005-06:00

My DQS8 (Doll Quilt Swap) is on it's way. I shipped it out yesterday and should shortly be in the possession of my partner.
I made it a point to challenge myself with the quilting and to use my newly acquired skills from the "Quilt Whisperer" class I took. I really hope my partner likes it {although I already know they do and that is just the icing on the cake!} I had a lot of "favorites" from the flickr pool and can't wait for the mail lady to deliver my mail each day. Sadly a few of my favorites have already reached their new homes but there are still quite a few unclaimed ones out there so I'll just have to deal with the suspense.

Etsy Love Wednesday

2010-03-03T12:26:00.009-06:00

It's been FOR-E-VAH since I did one of these fun little Etsy finds posts.

First up is a lovely purse and awesome pillow cover from one of my newest bloggy buddies Rosa Maria.

Rosa Maria and her sister Veronica have teamed up to open their new shop, Mi Hermana y Yo, on Etsy. Head on over to check out their other cute wares including a line of embroidery patterns.

Check out these super cute Monster Cupcake toppers by Joosy Card Co. My little guy will be celebrating a birthday this month and since I've decided cupcakes are the way to go, these might me just what I need {assuming he wants a monster theme.}
And last is my favorite find of the day:How super cute is this owl necklace by RachelleD? I love everything about it and love that she even has an aqua version!! Go check out her shop because she has some really beautiful pieces. Maybe I'll get one of her necklaces for Mother's Day {Hint, hint, hint!!!}

So far so good

2010-03-01T15:22:00.004-06:00

I've done a little bit of work on my DQS8. I had hoped to get more done but my poor little boy came down with bronchitis, missed most of school last week and then decided to share with mom. I didn't come down with bronchitis {at least not yet, but I think I'm getting better.}

Here is what I have accomplished so far:

So far I have stuck to my original plan but I already have some slight changes in mind for the remaining areas.

Whatnot(s)

2010-02-27T07:00:00.000-06:00

I have just discovered the most amazing thing ever! {well it's pretty darned cool in my book!}

Did you know that you could buy your very own personalized Whatnot? What's a Whatnot? A Whatnot is a muppet "extra" that can be seen in the background of any muppet movie or show, just like a real live extra! How cool is that?!!

I love the Muppets! I grew up watching The Muppet movies, Sesame Street, occasional episodes of Fraggle Rock and one of my favorite books was one from The Muppet Show. So when I saw this this morning {in my drugged up state of 2am, we're all sick over here, I can't even remember how I got to the FAO Schwarz site} I couldn't resist making up a Whatnot to represent my wonderful husband and myself.

At $129.99 each I don't know how I could justify the price but I really want these! {they are just so cool!} Think of the church talent shows you enter, all of the fun Family Home Evenings you could put on, and all the fun bedtimes your kids would have! I never know what to get Mr.PD for his birthday and for Father's Day (both about 2 weeks apart) but I think I may have to get this for him this year.

From what I can tell, the Whatnots are half bodied and include the hand rods. Oh and I now remember that I saw these on Heather Ross' site, she had one made for her hubby for Valentine's Day!

I really must say how much Mr.PD's muppet resembles him! He's even got the same "bug eyed" smile as my dear hubby. I love that they had the option of the "thinning" hair. I always tease Mr. PD about his thinning hair but I tell him it doesn't bother me because I can't really see the top of his head anyway! {He's 6' tall and I'm 5'} The leather jacket really adds to his resemblance because Mr. PD loves motorcycles {but he hasn't had one since our college days because he is now a "responsible dad."}

So head on over and have some fun at the muppet workshop!

Going to work on this...

2010-02-26T13:48:00.004-06:00

This is my "quilting plan" for my DQS8. A PC drawing tablet would sure be handy for this kind quilt doodling {hint hint Mr.PD} This is the kind of thing I learned when I took Carla's online Quilt Whisperer class. I think I did pretty well at thinking "outside the box." At first I couldn't get past the pinwheel blocks as being the focus of the quilt. Now lets see if I can put it to paper, er fabric. (oh and excuse the wonkiness of the top, in this picture the top wasn't completely pieced yet.)

Now excuse me while I go quilt!

Project 365 - Week 7

2010-02-26T07:00:00.000-06:00

1. Proje ct 365 Week 7, 2. 2-13 Artisan Bread, 3. 2-12a Snow Day, 4. 2-12b Snow Day, 5. 2-14 Valentine's Breakfast, 6. 2-16 A Glimpse of Things to Come, 7. 2-15 Tribute, 8. 2-17 Owl Love, 9. 2-18 Fire Circle

Picture #6 is by far my favorite picture of the week. When I saw the way the picture turned out I just about cried! I'm sure we've all had those moments when reality smacks us right in the face and we realize that our precious babies are growing up!

I had fun editing the snow pictures to really make the snow pop. I used this tutorial by The Pioneer Woman {I want to be her when I grow up!}

Overall it was a productive week for the Petit Debutant household.

Modern Tradition Quilt Bee: February Blocks

2010-02-25T07:00:00.001-06:00

The other day I got to play with these lovely fabrics:

To make these lovely blocks:
Believe it or not these are my very first ever log cabin blocks! I don't know why I've never made them before but I must say that I am now hooked. They were so easy and turned out so beautiful and perfect {trust me they are 100% square and not wonky at all despite what the picture shows!} It's funny because I kept thinking I had somehow messed up the order of the next strip but I guess I did all right! These blocks are now on their way to good ole Canada!

Life is Beautiful

2010-02-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

"I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world Heav'nly Father created for me." Click here for the song (Select words and music then click play in the upper left hand corner)

I love orchids don't you? Too bad I commit murder every time I decide to bring one of these lovelies home from the store with me. {Don't worry I didn't bring these home. These are safe and sound at the local museum.}

Joseph's Coat Quilt-along: Template Help File

2010-02-23T15:49:00.008-06:00

I've gotten a few recent comments from individuals trying to join the JCQA (Joseph's Coat Quilt-along.) It seems some of you are having trouble downloading the jpg template file. Now it would be easier for me to email you directly but some of you still have your email settings turned off on blogger, so I can't email you back! I just hope you somehow happen to read this post.

1)First Click on the picture of the template found in this post here.

2)You will then be re-directed to media fire. Click here:
3)You will then be taken to the following page. Click here:

4)A pop up window will prompt you to save or open file. Make sure "save file" is selected. (your computer will then save it to your default location which is usually under my documents, my downloads.) Then click "ok"
5) Now press "back" on your web browser and follow the same steps for the petal template.
I hope this helps!!

Project 365 - Week 6

2010-02-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

1. Project 365 Week 6, 2. 2-5 Jelly Belly, 3. 2-6a Valentine's Project, 4. 2-6b Valentine's Project, 5. 2-7 Valentine's Cards, 6. 2-8 Fabric Score!, 7. 2-9 Legos, 8. 2-10 Banana Bread, 9. 2-11 Cleaning sucks

I can't pick a favorite this week. I like them all! I can narrow it down to the Lego one and the Valentine's cards {which where a huge hit with everyone.} You can click on any of the numbered links to see the full size image and a description on flickr.

LQG (Local Quilt Guild)

2010-02-17T13:24:00.010-06:00

If you have a local quilt guild (LQG) that meets in your town I highly recommend you visit them. You may actually find that you like it!

I recently joined my LQG and it has been great! Our guild meets once a month and meetings are generally a pretty fun time.

At our last meeting I took a bunch a pictures of some of the things we did. During this particular meeting we had a few stations with demonstrations, show and tell, BOM (block of the month) drawings, FQ drawings, and show and tell, not to mention munchies!!!

At the first station we learned the art of paper piecing. This will also be the block of the month block for next months drawing. The way it works is you make one(1) of the designated blocks and bring it with you to the next meeting {if you so desire.} Then your name goes into a hat, along with everyone else's name who brought a block. Then a name is drawn and that person gets all of the blocks that where made that month!! A super way to have a quick quilt if you are lucky enough to have your name drawn!

The FQ drawings work the same way. You bring in a FQ in the designated theme and your name goes into a hat. If your name is drawn then you get all of the FQ's!

At the next station we learned all about ruching. I can't wait to make some of these flowers to embellish clothes and hair clips for my little girl

At the third station we had a demonstration on embroidery. I'm pretty good at embroidery so I didn't really pick up any tips here, except that I learned the split stitch. I did however enjoy looking at these fun "Little Red Hen" blocks. I love the leaf detail on the corn! And check out that blue bandanna pig!

At the last station we had a demonstration on the cathedral windows quilting method. We were shown a method that uses both machine and hand stitching. You know how I feel about hand-stitching {takes me for-e-ver!} so I will be doing it all by machine.

Here is one of the quilts that was brought in for show and tell. Isn't it purrty?
OH and I have to share the deal of the year {maybe even the decade!}
YES! you read that right. $2.00 for 1.5 yard of the very very hard to find Heather Ross no longer in print Lightning Bugs fabric! I just about pooped in pants when I saw it and the price tag. I very quickly snatched it up and hid it in my arms so no one could steal it from me. I was glad that I had cash in my purse that night! So I got home and looked it up online an it's going for about $36 a yard!!! Mr. PD asked if I was going to sell it. HA!! no way. I have plans for this cute as ever print. It will go lovely in my blue and orange quilt that has been floating around in my little head.

Have you scored any amazing fabric deals recently?

Busy...

2010-02-17T13:05:00.002-06:00

I have been busy {and sometimes not so busy} the last few weeks. Mainly I spent a lot of time reflecting on life and family.

I lost a dear friend a few days ago, and my dear friend lost her husband. I'm talking about the same person. Phil Kesler passed away on Thursday night. He was a very wonderful person and a great example to my family. I am grateful to have known him and will have fond memories of our many conversations about fonts and colors. You see Phil was an assistant professor at JSU and taught graphic art there. We were just two geeks in a pod! A comment/compliment from Phil on any project/flyer etc. that I made, let me know that I had done a good job!

Well it just so happens that his lovely wife became an instant friend from our first Sunday in Oxford, AL. Our daughters love to play with each other, we served together in the Young Women's program at church, and often found ourselves just hanging out. So my heart has been aching for her and especially for her daughter's loss (she's only 3.)

I have also been reflecting on my life and my priorities. I am grateful that through my friend's loss my testimony in the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been reaffirmed. I am grateful that families can be together forever. I am especially grateful that I have my husband and children to hug and kiss at least for a little while longer. I am also grateful for my friend and her strength, her testimony, and her happiness at such a difficult time. I will miss you terribly my dear friend!

Project 365 - Week 5

2010-02-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

1. Project 365 2010, 2. 1-30-10 Hair Bow Holder, 3. 2-1-10 Play With Your Food, 4. 2-2-10 Play time, 5. 2-3-10 Shopping is a Pleasure, 6. 1-29-30 Meal Menu, 7. 1-31-10 Joint Juice, 8. 2-4-10 Candle Worthy

My favorite picture this week is #3. I caught Ellie Mae playing with her food during lunch one day. I thought it was super cute so I grabbed my camera and snapped away.

Project 365 - Week 4

2010-02-05T07:00:00.004-06:00

1. Project 365 Week 4, 2. 1-22-10 (a) Penguin Princess, 3. 1-22-10 (b) Siblings, 4. 1-23-10 (a) McAlister's, 5. 1-23-10 (b) McAlister's, 6. 1-24-10 Lest you think I'm perfect, 7. 1-25-10 Muck boots, 8. 1-26-10 Chocolate Thunder from Down Under, 9. 1-27-10 I LOVE couponing, 10. 1-28-10 Quilt Block

I'm pretty happy with the photography this week {all except the shot at Outback, darn you low lighting atmosphere *shaking fist*} I'm debating getting myself some rain boots too so that I can play outside with the kids without the fear of ruining {well just stepping in poo, and who wants to do that} my running shoes. I'm pretty sure I can fit into the largest size of HK boots. Won't I look cute?

I'm usually pretty good about being on pooper scooper duty but this yard is different. It's huge and it's in a more natural state (lots of trees, leaves, sticks etc) and it makes it really hard to spot poop. I got tired of the kids coming into the house with poopy shoes so I went out and bought them the rain boots! The kids love them and have been asking for rain boots for a couple of months now. The boots never cross the door threshold.

Project 365 - Week 3

2010-02-04T17:31:00.003-06:00

I'm still chugging along with Project 365. I just need to be better at uploading my images. I can't believe a whole month has gone by already. Before I started I thought I might run out of things to take pictures of, but now I have come to realize that there are so many things that happen in a day it's almost hard to narrow it down to just one photo for the day.

1. Project 365 Week 3, 2. 1-15-10 "cute" face, 3. 1-16-10 "online", 4. 1-17-10 Progress, 5. 1-18-10 Service Project, 6. 1-19-10 Sick, 7. 1-20-10 Organization, 8. 1-21-10 Play Kitchen/Brainstorming

There are a few pictures in this week I'm glad I have. There is now way I would be able to remember half this stuff in a few years. I'm a very visual person and I'm loving this version of "journaling." I can't wait to have this printed at the end of the year.

My favorite photo of the week is the organized toy room {and no it didn't last} but it's not my favorite memory of the week.

Modern Tradition Quilt Bee

2010-01-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

Have you noticed the Quilt Bee button on my left side bar? I think it made it's appearance sometime back in early December, maybe even late November. I decided to improve my quilting as one of my goals for 2010. That is a very broad goal and every goal needs baby steps in order to accomplish the final goal. So far I have joined: my local Quilt Guild, an online "Quilt Whisperer" class, DQS8, the Jacob's Coat Quilt along, and the Modern Tradition Quilt Bee. *phew* and the year is just gettin' started! I feel like I'm off to a pretty good start. I think that by joining these groups I will be motivated and "held accountable" since there are others depending on you to do your part.

So here is my block for Melissa for January:

Melissa picked out a fun block and I must say I really enjoyed the process of piecing all those triangles. It will be sent off with the mail today. I must apologize to Melissa for my procrastination. Like I mentioned in my previous post I've been in a funk ever since moving and am just now trying to get back into things. Working on this block was very soothing and allowed me to unwind and focus on something other than kids, boxes, and messes!

So did you set any quilty goals for 2010?

I ate a frog this morning

2010-01-29T12:12:00.005-06:00

Well, metaphorically speaking. I feel like I've been in a slump ever since moving. I have made progress on the whole unpacking and putting things away but I am nowhere near being done. There is a whole storage room (about 12'x20') that has become the catch all room. This wouldn't be a problem really except that we use the door in this room to get into the house and you have to ~~walk~~ climb all over everything to make it into the actual house. I have felt unmotivated to really tackle much of anything because my efforts seem futile {how can 2 little kids make such a mess in ALL parts of the house so quickly?} Yesterday evening I spotted this quote over on my SIL blog:

“Eat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” -Mark Twain

So while I'm not willing to eat a real live frog I am willing to eat a metaphorical one. So I've picked my "worst" chore of the day and decided to tackle it first before moving on to anything else this morning. I exercised. Now don't get me wrong I don't actually hate exercising I actually rather enjoy it, but if I don't squeeze it in first I know other things will get in the way. Before I know it it's 3pm and I still haven't showered because "I'm going to exercise!" Hopefully this will keep me motivated to get it done at least 3 times a week. Besides I've officially lost 3 lbs already {I was rounding up before! (from 2.8 lbs lost)} and I gotta stay motivated!!

Hopefully eating this "live frog" will help motivate me to get the rest of my house in order so I can move on to more important things like quilting, crafting and couponing! {Seriously I have like a mini store going on in my closet from all of the amazing (and freeeee!) deals I have scored just by clipping coupons! It makes me so giddy to get stuff for free LOL}

General Mills Deal

2010-01-22T14:46:00.004-06:00

Recently the nice folks over at MyBlogSpark sent me some coupon vouchers* for some free General Mills cereal. They really caught my eye with a this statement: General Mills announced a commitment to further reduce sugar in cereals advertised to kids under 12 to single digit grams of sugar per serving. The company has already been reducing sugar in cereals while increasing key nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin D, and providing whole grain.

Have you noticed it? I hadn't and I hope they continue to lower the sugar content on all their cereals. My favorite cereal is MultiGrain Cheerios. It is sweetened to perfection {in my opinion} with only 6g of sugar per serving and my kids love it. That's about half the amount in most kids cereal, plus it wont turn your milk funky colors! It is pricey though so I only buy it when it is on sale or I have a coupon.

Guess what?? The folks over at General Mills and MyBlogSpark said I could share a $1 off coupon for GM cereal (Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms or Trix) with my readers. That's an awesome deal!

I recently {just 2 days ago} jumped on the coupon-ing band wagon and let me tell ya there are some deals to be had out there! {Yesterday I got 3 full size tubes of toothpaste for $0.60!} You can get items for dirt cheap and sometimes for free! If you are new to the world of coupons head on over to Hip2Save for lots of instructional info, and lots of coupons!

Cheerio! {Sorry I couldn't resist}

PS if the coupon isn't printing try using Internet Explorer

* VIP coupons, online coupon link, and information were provided to me by General Mills and MyBlogSpark

1-23-10: Apparently I was mistaken. The sugar content has not yet been reduced in the kids cereals. The announcement was made and will be implemented in the near future. So you should start to see the "lower sugar" options in the supermarket soon. Until then you can do like I do and mix the sugary stuff half and half with regular Cheerios. {Am I the only one that does this?}

Project 365 - Week 2

2010-01-19T20:44:00.003-06:00

1. Project 365 Week 2, 2. 1-8-10 Best Friend, 3. 1-9-10 Auditions, 4. 1-10-10 First Petals, 5. 1-11-10 "Resolve", 6. 1-12-10 Sketches, 7. 1-13-10, 8. 1-14-10 Bath Time

I'm still going strong with my Project 365. I love the way each of my images turned out for this week. If I had to pick a favorite it would be a close call between my quilt block and doggy bath time.

Joseph's Coat Update

2010-01-11T07:00:00.002-06:00

On Saturday I spent some time auditioning and interviewing my fabrics for a role in my Joseph's Coat quilt.
My process began with a set of 12 fat quarters from Sandi Henderson's Meadowsweet line. I purchased my fabrics from Lori of Stitches N' Giggles. Not only does she have the best prices for Meadowsweet that I have found ($7.50/yard) but she has great customer service and shipped my order out the next day! I didn't take a picture of the package when I got it but my FQ's came folded up into cute little triangles. Lori cut all my chosen fabrics into FQ's without charging me any more {yup $7.50 for 4 FQ's! That's about $1.88 per FQ}

The second part of my process involved pulling fabrics from my stash that I though would play nicely with my Meadowsweet. Some were immediately rejected for bad attitudes {just not feeling it} and fighting {clashing.} After the first round of cuts came the second call back where each of the fabrics was auditioned against my beautiful Kona Cotton Charcoal. Here I rejected some fabrics mainly based on hue. The problems main problem was that some of the fabrics just looked "blah" on the background. The were of a more subdued hue and did not provide the "pop" I was looking for. The final part of the auditions involved pairing each of my fabrics with each other to make sure they were in harmony with each other.

Yesterday after church I was able to finish up all the petals for my first block.

I was still unsure of my color choices as I was working on the petals. But as soon as I laid them out on my Charcoal I was sold! I really really love the outcome! The colors just pop and it is just super duper perfect! {Yeah, I'm excited!! ok enough exclamation points.} Even Mr. PD paid me an unexpected compliment by saying "Wow! That looks really good." I was afraid the gray would overwhelm the prints and colors, but they work marvelously together.

I really enjoy the process of picking out fabrics for a quilt. {The color geek in me comes out to play! It's sad that I never got to take the required "Color Theory" class while in college because I think I would have loved it.} Do you enjoy the fabric picking process or do you hate it? Do you mix and match fabrics from different lines, manufacturers, and designers or so you just stick to using fabrics from the same line?

Winner!

2010-01-10T18:59:00.003-06:00

Congrats Joy! Maybe now you won't have to eat card board!

Joy said...

I tried giving them cardboard chopped into small bite size pieces but they did not care for the taste. I even tried covering it in cream of chicken soup, but still no luck. We are now eating lots of whole wheat bread, and the little one loves cheerios.

You'll get your prize pack soon.

Project 365 - Week 1

2010-01-10T09:00:00.003-06:00

I'm on a roll with Project 365! I didn't miss a single day of picture taking this week. Granted it is only the first week of the year LOL. We'll see if my enthusiasm remains as the days roll on. You can click on the links to see the full size picture and a short description on Flickr.

1. Project_365_week1, 2. 1-1-10 Dog House, 3. 1-2-10 Boxes, 4. 1-3-10 Mush, 5. 1-4-10 Mail Order Fabric, 6. 1-5-10 Asian BBQ Skewers, 7. 1-6-10 Ice Cream, 8. 1-8-10 Possum

My favorite picture of the week? The cutest possum I have ever seen! {ok it's THE only possum I have ever seen that could possibly be referred to as "cute."} The second runner up are the BBQ skewers because they were sooo good and they even look delicious in the picture {I need to do this whole presentation thing more often.}

Joseph's Coat Quilt-along

2010-01-08T15:49:00.006-06:00

*Edit* if you are having trouble downloading the template, click here.

I've decided to join along with "Don't Look Now's" "Joseph's Coat" quilt-along. Seeing all of the beautiful creations in the Flickr pool has really made me want to try this out. The one that really caught my eye and gave me the push to join was Cabbage Quilts' block (top row last one.) Her bright cheery colors and charcoal gray background have really captured my interest. I have a feeling this will take a couple of months to make the quilt top.

1. Joseph's Coat Quilt-along, 2. DatongPingyaoShaolinLijiang Dec 2009 440, 3. Jacobs Coat, 4. josephs coat quilt along 007, 5. First two, 6. joseph's coat, 7. block 1, 8. block 2 , 9. Block 1

I've ordered all of my materials and am ready to start as soon as I get moved into the new place. I'll be using Meadosweet by Sandi Henderson and Kona Cotton in Charcoal. I've even made my block template and everything. I'm itching to get started but I've already moved my sewing room over to the new place so I can't even work on it when I find a spare moment.

Making the block template was a challenge. First my really nice compass {from my days in art school} was missing it's leads and missing a piece, rendering it completely useless! I took a quickie trip to Wally-world just for a compass. I bought their nicest one and came home all excited only to find out it doesn't open up wide enough! It's a good thing I'm handy with a mouse. I whipped up a template in Illustrator and I'm making it available to all of you who might not have a compass handy. You can either have it printed at Kinko's, Staples, Office max, etc on a large enough piece of paper (it measures 11"x11") or you can print it up at home on several pages and tape it together very carefully.

Click on the image to be taken to download the file, then click on "Download all images in folder" to also download a single "petal template."

Let's Warm Up! Giveaway

2010-01-08T13:03:00.005-06:00

The nice people over at MyBlogSpark recently sent me some Progresso High Fiber Soup to try out. {They also sent some nice soup bowls and spoons!} We tried out the Home Style Minestrone Soup and it was delish. I was a little weary at first thinking that the soup might taste chalky but it tasted like regular soup. {Even Mr PD liked it!} Each serving (half a can) contains 28% of your daily fiber intake {score!} I can't wait to try out their other high fiber varieties too: Chicken Tuscany, Creamy Tomato Basil, and Hearty Vegetable and Noodles.

So if you want a chance to win your very own prize pack (Soup, 2 soup bowls, and spoons) leave me a comment letting me know how you try to increase your family's fiber intake. {We eat ton's of whole wheat bread, and mini wheats!} Giveaway will remain open until Sunday morning at 8am Central Time)

PS While Progresso Provided me with the soup (for free) through the MyBlogSpark program I would not post about it if I didn't like it.

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

2010-01-04T13:46:00.004-06:00

... a freezing cold cloudy 28F feels like 18F day. Brrr. I hate the cold. Where's my snow? It thought I lived in the South.

So what could bring me sunshine on a cloudy day? Well for starters Ellie Mae's super static un-brushed hair and her get up for today; a bright red cape and Zorro type mask which only accentuates her unkempt hair. Oh yeah and it looked super lovely when she threw a crying fit when we left this morning and she realized she left her Zoe doll in the house. {I really should have gotten a picture.} Well I "couldn't" go back inside to retrieve it for her. All 45 seconds would have caused EJ to be late for school this morning. Guess what? We were there bright and early. Actually we were the ONLY ones there at all! HA! Joke's on mom, school doesn't start until tomorrow. So what could I do but laugh!

It was alright by me. The new house is less than 5 minutes from the school so we headed over there where I battled the 3 bathrooms, fridge and the stove. The oven won. Kicked my butt big time, but I've already got re-enforcements. Easy-off! That oven doesn't stand a chance!

Once we went home for lunch I had 3 very nice surprises waiting for me in the mail box. Nothing brightens my day like some fresh new scrumptious fabric {You know you have a problem when you refer to fabric as scrumptious, delicious, or yummy :) }

I got an order from Pink Chalk Fabrics. I ordered a Sheri Berry quilt kit ($22) and an extra panel ($3) from their clearance section. Finally! I got me some Sheri Berry Holiday fabrics. They are so cute and retro. They are a little more pastel-y than I would have liked {I wish the colors were a tad more vibrant} but they are still very cute and they will go so well with next years Christmas tree theme. {I went a little nuts at Target's 75% off Christmas clearance and bought a bunch of red and aqua decorations for next year.}

I also got an order from Sew Mama Sew!
Lot's of beautiful orange and aquas, plus some pinks for my girly girl. Again they are all from the clearance section. From left to right they are:
Snails in Orange from Far, Far, Away (Heather Ross)
Swim Class Sunset from Mendocino (Heather Ross)
Aspirin Dot Orange from Windham Basics
Mobile Stripe Aqua from Mingle (Monaluna)
Damask Pink from Ava Rose (Tanya Whelan)
Ambrosia Rose from Santorini (Lila Tueller)

And lastly a catalog full of eye candy from Connecting Threads. I have not ordered from them yet but believe me they will be getting some business from me once I move. They have a ton of quilt kits at very reasonable prices. {I'm in love with the Flying Chirpers Quilt Kit} Not to mention that you can get a free yard of fabric from them!

Give them a try! I know I will. I really want to give their line of threads a try too.
Simply Type CT596 at check out and receive $5.96 off any order that contains fabric. (Expires 2/22/2010. $5.96 minimum order. Limit one per person. Does not apply to shipping costs.)

Oh and all of their books are 40% off until February 22 too!

Crock Pot Woes

2010-01-03T18:59:00.005-06:00

One of my goals for this year has to do with food. I want to save money {and calories} by cooking at home. My "baby steps" in accomplishing this task will be:

to have a weekly menu planned out (which I started doing in November and has worked wonderfully.)
learning to use my crock pot
learning to use my food storage (which will put to use the awesome wheat grinder my in-laws gave us for Christmas.)
realizing that life gets in the way and even the best laid plans will go awry and it's perfectly ok to have pizza on speed dial!

On a recent trip to BAM (Books a Million) I found a real gem of a cook book.

This cook book has almost 200 crock pot recipes and so far I haven't seen a single one that calls for "cream of anything." That in itself sold me on the book! It does have some other awesome qualities too; pictures of every recipe, it comes in a 3 ring binder so you can add or take out recipes while you cook {not so great if you happen to buy the only copy that some "nice" person stole 50+ pages from!} recipes for everything including breads, desserts, soups, dips, main courses etc. Oh yeah and it was only $10.

Well the first recipe we tried out was "Smokey Chipotle Cassoulet" and it was awesome! Mine turned out a little more soupy than what was pictured in the book. It was pretty much like a southwestern/Mexican chili. If you decide to try this out WATCH OUT! One large chipotle will do you in. I recommend half, or less if you want your kids to eat it! We toned down the spiciness with sour cream, cheese and some Doritos (on the second day.) My kids were troopers and had 2 bites before I gave them some cereal for dinner instead!

Well tonight we tried out "Pesto Rice and Beans"

While the taste was there it sure wasn't going to win any prizes in the looks department! {Yeah... it looks nothing like the picture in the book.} My problems started after it had been cooking 2 hours and the rice didn't even look remotely cooked. I guess my crock pot takes a really long time to heat up on "low" so I cranked it up to high for 30 minutes, checked it and decided it was finally hot enough to cook the rice, added a bit more water and let it cook for another hour on low. Well the rice on the bottom cooked well, the rice towards the top was still a little bit crunchy, and once you mixed in the pesto it just turned to mush! This recipe was in the section labeled "creative cooking" {what's that supposed to mean?} so I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a main dish or what {I'm thinking it's more of a side dish.} I think this recipe would have given me less trouble had I cooked it in a regular pot! Oh well, live and learn!

Here is a similar recipe if you want to try it out. {And hey! hers looks like mush too!}

Project 365

2010-01-02T10:46:00.006-06:00

Happy New Year everyone! Did you make it to midnight? I surely did not! {I did not even make it to midnight Eastern time and I'm in Central time.} I could not stay up even if my life depended on it. {I know I'm so lame! LOL} My days of staying up late ended with my first kid. That's alright with me. Staying up to ring in the New Year is not on my priority list. The New Year will be ushered in with or without me so I figure I don't need to stay up. The important thing is that I have reflected on the year that has passed and have set new goals to make 2010 even better for my family and myself.

My SIL wrote me yesterday and suggested I join her in doing Project 365. I have been meaning to try this out and figured there is no better time to start than on January 1st! Basically project 365 consists of taking a picture a day for a whole year in order to better chronicle your life. By snapping a picture a day you should, in theory, be able to capture the day to day and "little things" in life.

What a great way to share your life with your posterity! Consider it keeping a journal in photography form {I'm pretty sure it counts as keeping a journal! ... because I said so.} Think about your great great grandchildren poring over your album {I want to have mine printed into a book at the end} and laughing and pointing at your ridiculous fashions, your sad attempts at gardening, following your grand adventures, and seeing the love shared by your family.

Rather than bog down my blog with a daily image I have created a collection on Flickr for my Project 365. I will post a mosaic on this blog at the end of every week to share my images with you.

So will you be keeping a traditional journal this year or a photo journal??? I'd love to see yours if you keep one.

A New Chirstmas Tradition

2009-12-27T07:39:00.007-06:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas weekend. We sure did! We enjoyed a nice family meal on Thursday evening which consisted of Honey Baked Ham, asparagus, rice stuffing, and fruit salad. We had the kids in bed by 8pm and then the final wrapping, counting, and organizing of presents began. I had to make sure the kids had the same number of presents because I thought there would be hurt feelings if they didn't. EJ ended up with 2 more gifts than Ellie Mae and I was trying so hard to "figure it all out!" I thought about taking a few away and saving them as birthday presents but my really "mean and doesn't know anything" husband wrapped them all up and set them out and said "they shouldn't care and neither should you."

Well for some stupid reason I let that get me all upset and I kind of let it ruin my night (at least for a good hour.) I was just so worried about the imminent tantrum and hurt feelings that my kids were sure to have the next morning. You know what? Mr. PD was sooo right. The kids didn't even notice!!! We just let them take turns back and forth opening presents and we let Ellie Mae open up some of the "family" gifts to make up for her lack of gifts. let me re-iterate.... they DIDN"T care!!! Really I don't know why I even made such a big deal. {sheesh}

On Christmas day we enjoyed watching the kids unwrap their presents and were glad that they were pleased with every one of their gifts. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with friends that night. There was so much food and it was all soooo good!

We did start a new tradition this year though. I don't remember where I read this, at first I thought it was from a comment I had received but I went back through my comments and could not find it anywhere. It must have come from someones blog {so THANK YOU whoever you were!} The new tradition consists of buying a new ornament for our kids every year. A special thoughtful ornament that represents some achievement in their life for that year. Then when that child is married you give them all of their ornaments as a wedding or Christmas present. How cool is that!? We all know how tight money is that first year without having to worry about buying home decor items. I may have to do this for us (as a couple) and add a new ornament every year that represents something special.

For EJ I wanted to get something that represented his first year of school. For Ellie Mae I wanted something to represent her love of ballerinas. Well we didn't decide to do this until 3 days before Christmas, and those were slim pickins at all the ornament shops! I finally settled on some Alabama football players to represent our move to good ole Alabama. Roll Tide! {I found them Christmas Eve!}

Advent Calendar Tutorial

2009-12-15T13:53:00.008-06:00

I don't blame you for giving up on me. What can I say? This is usually a pretty busy time for everyone, myself included. Time just has a way of flying by and I have to prioritize my time and family time is always gonna trump blogging {sorry folks, it's just the harsh reality! LOL} I was pretty busy having fun and enjoying my mom on her visit. Sadly I dropped her off at the airport bright and early this morning. Believe it or not my mom's visit wasn't really the hold up on the tutorial, I somehow managed to misplace the dang tutorial a second time! *grins sheepishly* So to make up for it I actually went through and made it all spiffy looking with Illustrator so you wouldn't have to loose your mind trying to decipher my chicken scratch hand writing.

I'll try to post a close up of a few of my stockings as soon as the weather cooperates and the sun peeks through the nasty dark gloomy clouds hanging out covering my bright blue AL skies.

Click to be taken to the file download page. Click "start download" to download the PDF file.

Giveaway Winners

2009-12-07T13:08:00.002-06:00

I had such a fun time reading all your comments from the Sew Mama Sew give away. It seems that most of the favorite ornaments are those that have special meaning. It seems like some of the most treasured ornaments are those that some of you made 15-30 years ago when you were little. I've taken note and will be saving some of the ones my children make so I can give them to them when they are grown. I love that some of you display your "ugly" ones proudly front and center. Some of you give them a place of honor in the back of the tree! Still on the tree no less!

I wish I could give each of you a silhouette but I received 144 comments! {a record for me} So I have decided to give away 3 silhouettes instead of the 1 I had originally planned on.

So the winners are (chosen by Random Number Generator):
#70, #6, and #25

Congrats to Kris #6: Those are beautiful! I would love to win!

Melissa #25: My favorite ornaments are the ones my kids make at school and church each year- especially the ones with pictures of them! Those silhouettes are darling- I'd love one!

Tiffany #70: I got your silhouettes for my kids last year! Love them, and would be thrilled to win more ;) Favorite ornament is a hallmark godchild from 1976. Too fragile to hang, but is dearly loved!

In other news, I found the tutorial for the stocking advent calendar so look for it later tonight or early tomorrow morning!

Tutorial Delay

2009-12-04T07:40:00.003-06:00

I had the tutorial for the stocking advent calendar all written up and ready to be scanned into my computer the night before last. Now I can't find my piece of paper!!! I know I put it somewhere safe {so it would be safe from the kids, dogs, and hubby} yeah well that worked out great cause I can't find it anywhere! Seriously I have a short term memory. I really should have made Mr. PD put it somewhere safe from me! I'm keeping my eyes open through out the day and I'll post as soon as I find it. Although I have a feeling I will need to write it up again!! It also might not be until tomorrow because I get to have my mom over for a visit all the way from sunny California! Yay!

PS I get my forgetfulness from my lovely mother who has been known to be frantically looking for her keys while they are in her hand, or for her cell phone when she is on it talking to me! I'm not that bad {yet.}

Paper Stocking Advent Calendar

2009-12-02T15:34:00.006-06:00

I love having an advent calendar in my home. It helps to keep the "is it Christmas tomorrow?" questions to a minimum. I made my little calendar 2-3 years ago and it is one of my favorite things to get out for Christmas. It was super simple to make and looks awesome. I've gotten tons of compliments on my calendar.

Sometimes I display it like a garland on some ribbon, or on a dead tree branch as you can see in the picture below. This picture was taken on Thanksgiving and there it is next to the TV and my little guy. Well it kept falling over and I just couldn't get it to stay put. Usually when I opt to display it like this I put it in a really tall vase then fill the base with those floral gems. Well I apparently left my really tall vase in storage in TN.

I was getting pretty fed up with stockings falling off any time my kids went near it. So I looked around for another idea and realized I had some extra garlands {because I don't have any banisters, or columns in AL, sad} so I strung one up across the living room/dining room cased opening. I then used ornament hooks to hang up each of the little stockings.

{and just so you know we keep it real over here in the PD household I didn't bother to clean up the toys, backpack, or the bag of trash the dog is finding really interesting!}

At first I started to hang up the stockings in numerical order but then I realized that it would look odd half way through the month with stockings on only on half of the garland. So I took them down and then put them back up in a random order. Each little stocking holds 2 little Hershey's Kisses (one for each of my kiddos) and a little slip of paper with an activity to do that day. The activities are little things and things already in our calendar {hey, it's not like my kids know!} such as color Christmas pictures, make gingerbread houses, church Christmas party, and picking up Grandma from the airport.

I'm working on the pattern to post tomorrow so you can make your own stocking calendar. I love advent calendars so if you've got one posted on your blog share the link with me, I'd love to see it.

It's here, It's finally here!

2009-12-02T07:24:00.009-06:00

Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day 2009!

I'm giving away one of my custom Digital Portrait Silhouettes. Like these:

My giveaway is open to international entrants as well!

I'll even give you 2 chances to win!

Post a comment telling me what your favorite Christmas ornament is for one entry.

Follow my blog (or if you already do) and post a second comment telling me you do.

I'll pick a winner on Sunday December 6th!

In case you are wondering, my favorite Christmas ornament is the 2002 Swarovski Annual Christmas ornament.

It was given to us on the year we got married by a very special friend of mine (my German, social studies, and Seminary teacher - all in one!) We then started the tradition of buying that year's ornament every Christmas. We will be getting ornament #8 shortly in the mail. I can't wait to Have my tree decked out with 25, or maybe even 50 ornaments someday! It's just a lovely visual reminder of our time together as a family.

Don't forget to visit Sew Mama Sew for the master list of giveaways!

The worst Christmas tree EVER!

2009-12-01T10:13:00.002-06:00

Last year we decided to have make a wonderful Christmas memory and cut down our own Christmas tree {all Mr. PD's big idea.} We even went to a tree farm in TN were we lived. We were all excited until we got there and they told us that the only trees they had for cutting down were Leyland Cypresses or White Pine trees. Once I took a look at the selections I tried my hardest to convince Mr. PD to buy me one of my favoritest already pre-cut Frasier Firs. {Love!}

But NO! Mr. PD would have none of that. So between the two available selections I chose the lesser of the "ugly" trees. Ugly trees! not real Christmas trees at all. {no offense if they happen to be your choice of Christmas tree.} There was no talking my hubby into buying the already cut Frasier Firs, NO we were going to create a tradition! So we ended up with a Leyland Cypress.

Fast forward to when we start decorating the tree. My arms broke out in little red bumps and itched like crazy! I was allergic to the stupid thing! So Mr. PD and the kids got to do all the decorating while I supervised and gave constructive criticism.

Fast forward to when it was time to take it down. The stupid tree dried up so much that the needles were super poky like thorns! We managed to get all the ornaments off and most of the lights as well. Our arms were scratched up and bleeding from the tiny paper cut like scratches the tree decided to give us. Then I just looked at Mr. PD and said, "it can keep the lights!" We then took it outside light and all and dumped it in the back yard where we let it really dry out before burning the dang thing!

Never again! This year we got a nice Douglas fir and I tested it on my arms before bringing it home! Mr. PD definitely created a Christmas memory that we will never forget!

Do you have any "fun" {after the fact} holiday memories?

Give Away Day

2009-11-24T12:33:00.003-06:00

This year I have decided to join Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day! What will I give away? You'll have to wait til Dec 2nd to find out! Make sure you head on over to Sew Mama Sew on Dec 2nd to see the complete list of blog participants giving stuff away. Trust me the list gets huge!

Thanksgiving Menu

2009-11-23T16:24:00.006-06:00

What's on your Thanksgiving menu?

We are trying out a couple of new things and keeping some of our tried and true favorites. This year we are foregoing the turkey {again.} We are just not turkey fans in this household! It's too dry, there's too much of it, and the kids hardly peck at it. That leaves a 10lb + bird for Mr. PD and myself to eat. There's only so much you can do with leftovers before you swear off turkey for good. I must say that the best turkey we ever had was a deep fried turkey! {mmmm... drooling just thinking about it! Gotta love the south and it's love for deep frying everything!}

For the last couple of years Mr. PD has been given Honey Baked Ham gift certificates from work and sub contractors. I have not had to cook a holiday meal (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) for a couple of years! Sadly since we are no longer with his previous employer we won't be getting any gift certificates this year. Mr. PD was kind enough to offer to buy Honey Baked for Thanksgiving but I wanted to give this whole holiday cooking another shot {I did tell him I'd take him up on the offer for Christmas.} So this year we are trying duck!

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu
at the Petit Debutant household

Appetizer:
Spinach Dip and Crackers {tried and true fave}

Main Course:
Honey Duck {new this year}
Rice Stuffing {tried and true fave}
Lemon Garlic Asparagus {tried and true fave}
Fresh Rolls

Dessert:
Sweet Potato Pie

Drinks:
Water
Sparkling Berry Cider
Cranberry Pomegranate Cider {new this year}

Here are the other recipes I will be using.

Cranberry Pomegranate Cider
1 64 oz cranberry juice
1 64 oz pomegranate juice
3/4 c sugar
1 TBSP whole cloves (tied up in a little scrap of fabric)
1 orange sliced

Combine all ingredients in a large dutch oven/pot. Bring to a simmer over med heat fro 20 minutes, remove cloves. Garnish with orange slices. Serve warm

I recently had this at a Relief Society activity and it was awesome! {if you like the tartness of cranberries and pomegranates, otherwise you won't like it!} I am cheating slightly, I don't need to make such a large batch so I found a 100% juice cran/pom mix tat I will be using as the base. I'll also be using my crock pot for this so as not to take up my large pot.

Rice Stuffing (from an old Betty Crocker cookbook, I think)
2/3 c uncooked regular white rice
1 med stalk celery chopped (about 1/2 c)
1 small onion chopped (about 1/4 c)
2 TBSP margarine/butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 c chopped walnuts
1/3 c raisins {years ago I substituted Craisins and my entire family has never looked back!}
1/4 tsp paprika
4 slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled

Cook rice as directed. Cook celery, onion, margarine, salt and pepper in a 10 inch skillet until celery is tender; remove from heat. In a large bowl combine celery mixture with rice, walnuts, raisins/cranberries, paprika and bacon.

Sweet Potato Pie
3-4 sweet potatoes cooked
1/4 c evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c butter melted
3 eggs beaten
1 1/2 c sugar
1 small can crushed pineapple (6-8oz)
1 c shredded coconut
1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Beat until mixed thoroughly. Pour filling into crust and bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

Lemon Garlic Asparagus
We have no recipe for this dish. Mr. PD does a great job with this dish. Basically take some fresh asparagus spears and saute in some olive oil. Season with a little bit of garlic salt and sprinkle with lemon juice. You can also add some almond slivers to it.

I'm Thankful...

2009-11-20T08:00:00.001-06:00

for the beautiful world Heavenly Father created for me and my family.

Hikes are so much fun through rustly crinkly leaves and with pine cones to kick all over the trail!

I'm grateful for sights like this that I can share with my children.

And I am grateful for the wonderful diversity and beautiful detail of "insignicicant" things

What beautiful creations are you thankful for?

These photos were taken at Oak Mountain State Park near Birmingham, AL

Great deals on gifts

2009-11-19T09:46:00.005-06:00

*******
Update: I received an email at about 1pm with my shipment notification and tracking info for my photo books. That's less than 24hrs! Great service so far!
*******

I recently found two great deals that I want to share with you. They are inexpensive ideas for Christmas gifts. I have placed my order at both of these places yesterday so I can't vouch for their service and quality just yet. I will let you know the minute I get them. I just thought the deals were to great to pass up {and some expire soon.}

First up is a great Grandparent gift. Head on over to Picaboo for a buy one get one free deal on most of their Photo Books. Pricing starts at $9.99 for a 20 page soft cover 6"x8" book. With shipping each book would end up costing $10. What an awesome deal!
I spent all day yesterday making up our book. The software that you download lets you create your photo book right from your computer without uploading pictures first (which can take forever and you end up uploading pictures you don't even use in your book.) When your photo book is all done you can then upload your entire book when it is convenient for YOU {like at night or while you are out so it doesn't tie up your computer.} I uploaded my book during dinner and it was done by the time we where done eating.

There are lots of awesome layouts that you can pick from {full page, just pictures, pictures plus text, or just text} and the software was fairly intuitive. If you are going to edit your images, you really need to do it before trying to put your book together because the software only has basic photo adjustments such as, zoom in and out, brightness and contrast.

I upgraded my books to the linen hard cover version. With shipping it came out to be $15 per book. Still an awesome deal for gifts that I know will be well loved! Hurry though this offer is only good til November 30th!

Buy A Book, Get An Extra Copy Free until Nov. 30th. Use Code NVBGF at Checkout

The other deal I found is free photo canvas! Yeah free! That's a $55 value. The Canvas People are offering every household a free 8x10 canvas or $55 off the other sizes. You still have to pay shipping though {but still a way awesome deal!} I actually upgraded to the 11x14 canvas size and with shipping my total came out to be about $32. This is a gift for our own family as we're lacking a current family portrait {Come to think of it I don't think we have a family portrait at all, well not one with ALL of us. Sad I know.} But that problem is fixed now and I can't wait to get our new gallery wrapped canvas portrait! I don't know how long this deal is going on but it can't possibly go on forever!

PS I was not paid a single cent to share these companies with you.

Quilled Snowflake Ornaments

2009-11-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

The very first Enrichment* activity I went to when I first moved to TN, 3.5 years ago, was a sit and craft type of activity. I had just moved to Murfreesboro, I was 8 months pregnant and didn't bring a craft to work on. Instead I went and got to know some of the other ladies in our church. One of the ladies (Kim R.) was working on something I had never seen before.

I watched Kim as she took long thin strips of papers and rolled them up into little coils. My curiosity was piqued. I went over and asked her what she was doing. She then proceeded to introduce me to the world of quilling. She even offered to let me try it, but I declined {not really sure why... maybe it was my pregnancy hormones!}

That was my introduction to quilling, and I have been wanting to try it ever since. My awesome SIL recently gave me just the push I needed when she sent me a link to a beautiful quilled snowflake ornament. I just had to give it a try. I'll be honest, it's addicting to roll the little strips of paper, it's even easy to make the little shapes... and it can be totally frustrating trying to glue them all together to make a beautiful shape!

Here are the two I have made. The one in the foreground is the first one I made. I love it! It took along time to glue the pieces together and following the pattern was more of a hindrance because it really brought out the perfectionist in me.

The one in the back ground {the lopsided, not so pretty one} I made second. This time around I tried to just glue it together without the use of a pattern board. {Yeah, that's why it looks like it does!}

I then sprayed them with spray adhesive and smothered them with silver glitter. I can't wait to see them on my tree this year, I just need the perfect navy blue satin ribbon for hanging. {Do you know how hard it is to find a deep navy blue 1/4" wide satin ribbon?}

If you want to try quilling go for it! It is a pretty cheap craft to get into and there are so many amazing designs you can make for cards, scrapbooking, ornaments etc. All you need is a quilling tool (one with a slit is great for beginners) - about $4, some quilling strips of paper - about $2-$3, some glue, some pins, a piece of card board, and some saran wrap. That's it!

I got a snowflake kit from Hobby Lobby that included patterns, basic instructions, and paper for about $3. I also used a 40% off coupon on the quilling tool.

* Enrichment (as it used to be called then) are group activities held by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that are for Women only. It is time to get together with other women and to learn new skills and become better friends.

On the frame

2009-11-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

One of my New Year's resolutions at the beginning of the year was to really learn how to use my Sturdy Lite quilt frame (from Grace.) Back in January I had owned the frame for almost a year with almost no use. I was ashamed to admit that I was essentially afraid of how to use it. Not afraid of bodily harm {that's silly, but probably not improbable!} just afraid of how complicated it seemed.

The frame did not come with very clear instructions on how to even load a quilt on the frame! Other things got in the way of my goal of "quilting on the frame 3 times a week" such as: too small of a room in TN, taking it apart when I had guests {and never setting it back up}, moving, a sewing machine with a small throat space, and no clear instructions on what to do!

Eventually I got a few things that made it easier for me to use the frame. First I got a steal of a deal on a Brother PQ 1300 ($330 off eBay including shipping) {Hello 9" throat space!}

Then I purchased and e-book from Kathy Quilts that specifically goes through the process of working with a mid-arm sewing machine on a quilting frame. The book was {in my opinion} really expensive for what it is. It is a good source of information but the reality is that it is an e-book and there are no publishing fees associated with it so the price should come down to about $25 or less. It also boast to be over 100 pages, but the font used is a really big size, like a size 24! Oh and the grammar is pretty bad {my brain hurts after reading the whole thing because I really just want to correct the grammar.} In Kathy's defense they have come out with a new edited version, which I haven't read because they are not giving it to their previous purchasers for free and I'm not buying it again just to avoid bad grammar. Over all the book does have good information and it was the cheaper option rather than letting my frame sit virtually unused for yet another year.

The last thing I got that has been very helpful was a "speed control" for the Brother PQ-1300. It is NOT a stitch regulator. It merely replaces your sewing machine's foot pedal with a little knob that keeps your machine needle moving at a constant speed. It's great because I no longer have to try to reach the back of the frame to turn the fly wheel. I also don't have to use the wooden handle on the frame to "squeeze" down my foot pedal. That set up is only comfortable for about 15 minutes of sewing time. Your hands get tired from trying to squeeze the wooden handle while feeling all the vibrations of the carriage. It really tired out your hand. Now with the speed control I don't have to squeeze anything! and there is no hand fatigue. The speed control is also responsive enough that I can make the needle go up or go down a single time. I found it here for $19.99 with free shipping. They also have one for the Juki TL-98E for the same price

So I threw on this practice quilt that I had lying around for the last 3 years! It's almost done, I just need to go back and decide how to quilt my borders. It's not perfect by any means, but it will make a great picnic quilt.

Hand Piecing

2009-11-14T08:00:00.002-06:00

ME???!!!

I never thought this day would ever come, but I am loving all of the hexagon quilts I'm seeing (or "Grandmother's Flower Garden" as they are traditionally called.) I'm not in love with the traditional versions, oh no I'm in love with the ones made using modern fabrics, bright colors and bold prints. And white, lots and lots of crisp clean white.

It really wasn't hard at all to make each of the individual hexagons. It wasn't even hard whip stitching them to the center of the "flower." It was, however, a challenge (at least for me) to stitch together 2 of the petals after they had been stitched to the center hexagon. I think I've figured it out now. I'm ambitious and want to make this into a queen size quilt for my bed. That should only take me... oh 5 years! Actually I think I might make a center panel out of the hexies and then add borders etc because I know me, and I know I will eventually get bored of this project. {I'm pretty sure I have mentioned how utterly slow my hand sewing skills are.}

I used the tutorial here to get started. This is by far the easiest tutorial I have found because you only stitch at the corners and there is no knotting involved. The block pictured above was done with a 2.5" hexagon template (this is the measurement of one side of the hexagon, not the height or width.) The actual measurements of each hexagon are 2 5/8" tall x 3" wide. The completed block measures approximately 7.5" x 8"

I made my own paper piecing templates out of some medium weight card stock using my nifty
new ~~toy~~ tool: the Quickutz Silhouette SD
I love this baby! I will be sharing a full review in a couple of days so check back if you want to hear my unbiased {not to mention unpaid} opinion on this nifty little tool.

If you own a Silhouette you can purchase the file from me and make as many hexagons as you like! I'll be listing the .gsd files for sale in through my Etsy Shop. Just click on the "Quickutz Silhouette .GSD" tab of the right to see all of the .gsd files available for purchase. I hope to expand this section of my store real soon!

Giveaway time!

2009-11-13T12:24:00.005-06:00

This week I've teamed up with Miss Mustard Seed to give away one of my custom digital silhouettes over on her website. If you haven't been over to Mustard Seed Creations get on over there for some gorgeous furniture makeovers. Be sure to link up any recent furniture or home furnishings makeovers, thrifty finds, favorite furniture pieces, or great furniture arrangements for a chance to win one of my silhouettes.

Here are some of my favorite makeovers she has done {talk about talent!}

I love the blue and dark wood combo of this piece!

Wow! what an awesome hutch!

Go check it out!

Sneak Peek

2009-11-12T19:52:00.004-06:00

I know I went missing for most of the last week. A nasty bug has hit our house and has slowly made it's rounds. Little EJ was the first one to succumb to the nasty cough bug. I was hoping he'd work it out of his system on his own but I finally took him to the Dr. and he is now on some antibiotics. Unfortunately he decided to share the love with me! The funny thing is that when we were at the doctor's office I had a coughing fit just as the doctor walked in the room. He took one look at me and said "you sound like you need to see a doctor."

{meh... doctors schmoctors} I'll just drink plenty of fluids and get plenty of rest. Besides, Mr. PD got me a good supply of Sucrets, Chloraseptic, and Mucinex... I should be good in a few days! If that doesn't work then I'll definitely see a doctor. The good news is I think Mr. PD only got a slight case of whatever bug we have. The bad news is that little Ellie Mae sounds a little croaky tonight.

Aside from being sick it has been a bit cloudy and rainy around here so I hadn't been able to get any pictures of my current projects. Today was nice and sunny and I took full advantage of the situation.

Without further ado here is a sneak peek at my first quilt pattern. {Hopefully I can get the instructions written up this week.}